


Trial by Fire

by Toboe1087



Series: Trial by Fire [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou Friendship, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/M, Kuroo Tetsurou is a Good Friend, M/M, Minor Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Minor Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Rare Pairings, Romance, Soul Bond, Soulmates, no ron bashing, wizard!Akaashi, wizard!Kuroo, wizard!bokuto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-21 22:11:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 102,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15567426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toboe1087/pseuds/Toboe1087
Summary: Hermione Granger knew she should inform her relatives of her parents' deaths, but she hadn't expected the result to be an invitation to Japan. Or the chaos that followed her arrival. She could have sworn soulmates were utter nonsense made up by Lavender Brown.Kuroo Tetsurou knew that soulmates were real, but he never imagined that his was Tsukki's British war-veteran cousin. Or that Tsukki evenhada British war-veteran cousin. Of course, he was thrilled that he would now be able to torment his Karasuno kouhai for the rest of his life.





	1. Preface: May 20

**Author's Note:**

> I'm messing with both the HP timeline and the Haikyuu!! timeline. For HP, I've just moved it to happen more recently so that Hermione is around the same age as Kuroo. For Haikyuu!! I move the first training camp to early June and pretend the third-gym events with Kuroo, Tsukki and the rest happened then. I also act like the second training camp lasted 5 days instead of 3 :/ My bad, I honestly thought it lasted five days when I was writing. Sorry about that if it's confusing--I just wrote this because I love the characters. 
> 
> If you don't want to deal with the HP stuff, skip to Ch. 8, though you probably will be a bit confused. 
> 
> If you enjoy it, I'd really love to hear about that! I'm writing this for fun and I've decided that it's about time I give back to the fanfic community after reading it for the past 10+ years or so of my life. (I'm not going to do the math on that--It makes me feel too old). 
> 
> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

May 20

They were dead. 

She’d realized that before, but hadn’t really accepted it. The tombstones, however... those made it real. Despite everything she’d done, her parents were dead. 

Ron had come with her to Australia a week after the Battle of Hogwarts. She should have come earlier. Just a few days earlier, and… She gulped, gasping for breath as tears swarmed. She should have come earlier, but there had been funerals, so many funerals…and she had missed her own parents’ funerals because of it.

Hermione knelt down by their headstones. She had known that there was no way to reverse the obliviate. It had taken too many of their memories—they would have been driven insane if she tried to restore them. But she’d wanted to see them. Assure herself that they survived, that she did the right thing. 

Tears began to form. She had hunted and hunted for any piece of information about them, any small scrap, and then she found the newspapers. The story about two new dentists who had died in a gas explosion. Hermione knew better. Somehow the Death Eaters had found her parents. Found them, probably tortured them, and killed them, all because of a girl they didn’t even remember. 

Her sobs came more freely, and Ron’s steady arms pulled her up. She clung to his shirt as he wrapped his arms around her. 

“Let’s go home, Hermione.”


	2. June 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione learns something new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

“I can’t do this anymore.” 

Hermione stared at Ginny. She’d just come back from her shower and had entered the room to find the other girl sitting on her bed. “Can’t do what?”

“All this silence! If Fred were here—” Ginny seemed to waver slightly then forged on, “If Fred were here he and George would have had everyone laughing the day after the battle, despite all the funerals. Mom would’ve berated them, but we would all be secretly glad, happy that someone could take away the sadness.” Ginny’s eyes were swimming now, but she just blinked a few times, then pulled in another determined breath. “But he’s not. And that’s awful and terrible, but this… this doom and gloom can’t go on. We won! We beat Voldemort, yet it feels like we lost, because we did loose so much.” She was looking at her hands now. They had been clenched into fists, but now were loosened.

Hermione sat down next to her. “Things will get better. Slowly. Everyone’s still grieving, that’s all.”

Ginny nodded stiffly. “But I want something happy now.”

“Ginny….” Hermione didn’t know what to say. Happy things were few and far between at the moment. “Fleur’s pregnant, that’s good right? You’ll be an aunt.”

“To a French princess.” Ginny rolled her eyes. “Yay me.” 

“I thought you two were getting along better, now.”

“We are, I’m really thankful for how good she’s being about Bill’s scars and everything, and I’ll even admit she’s not as vain as I thought, but…” Ginny shrugged. “She’s still so particular and persnickety about so many things. Like last night!” Ginny jumped up. “She made this huge fuss about how the baby jumper mum made wasn’t the right shade of pink.”

“It was hardly a huge fuss.” Hermione raised an eyebrow. “She just asked your mum if she minded if she changed the color slightly.”

“Which was rude!” Ginny huffed. “Anyway, I wasn’t thinking about my impending aunt prospects, though that is kinda a happy thought.”

“What were you thinking about, then?”

“I’m going to do the soulmate spell. See if Harry and I are really meant to be together.”

“But you’re already dating.”

“Yes, but it’s every little witch’s dream to marry her soulmate, ok? And I know Harry is mine, just like Mom says she knew Dad was hers, but I want proof. I want to do the spell.”

“Is the spell even a real thing, Ginny?” Hermione couldn’t help but scoff a little at the idea. It sounded too much like divination to her. 

“Yes.” Ginny’s voice was stern and she bounced off of her bed to wander over to the bookshelf at the far end of the room. Hermione had looked at it once, years ago, but it had mostly been filled with children’s books about Harry or tawdry romance novels, so she’d never paid too much attention to it. Ginny pulled out a slim green novel, then thrust it into Hermione’s lap. “There. You like that author. I know you do. I heard you ranting to Harry about how his historical series would make better textbooks than Binns’ nonsense. I recognized his name, but couldn’t place it for a while. Then I remembered. He wrote this.” She tapped the title. “The History of Soulbonds in Britain’s Magical Families.”

Hermione had to admit, she did like the author, Arnold Bagshot. She’d somewhat soured on him after the whole mess with Bathilda during the war, but whatever had happened with his relative didn’t mean anything about the man’s own scholarship. “I’ll read it. At the very least the title suggests that soulbonds are something Britain’s magical families have believed in.”

“Exactly. The spell is real, I’m telling you. And it will prove that Harry and I are meant to be, which will give me something happy to think about.”

“But Ginny, why do you need some spell to tell you that your perfect for each other?” It was at times like this that Hermione became a bit exasperated with the girl. 

“I don’t, but…” Ginny sighed. “It would just make me happy. And I want that right now. So I’ll do the spell.”

“What if it says you aren’t soulmates?”

“It won’t.” Ginny grinned. 

Hermione stared at her, unconvinced.

“Oh, fine. If it doesn’t I’ll be sad, alright? But I wouldn’t dump Harry or anything like that. Loads of people don’t marry their soulmates.” Ginny sighed, “Especially in Europe.” She laid back on her bed and Hermione shifted to look at her.

“What do you mean, especially in Europe?”

“Well, anywhere that has a school-based system of magical education, really. If you’re around your soulmate as your core matures, you don’t have the recognition spark or whatever that you get when you meet them after your core has already matured.” She sighed. “It’s a bit ridiculous to go around doing the spell on everyone you went to school with, though, so people generally just do it on those that they’re already interested in, usually with that person’s permission. It’s rude to cast spells on people without their permission, of course.” Ginny grinned, “that doesn’t stop a bunch of seventh years from doing it, though. Nor will it stop me.” 

Hermione sighed and managed to refrain from pointing out that this was likely because Ginny was just a seventh year girl, herself.

“Any way, that’s why so many witches and wizards marry young, despite our longer lifespans than muggles. We find our soulmates and settle down, or people, purebloods usually, do arranged marriages in order from forming a bond of any kind with ‘the wrong sort.’ Pureblood parents would rather their children have an unhappy marriage than a happy one with a muggleborn. That’s what happened with Andromeda and Ted Tonks, you know. She realized he was her soulmate and ran away with him before her parents could marry her off to someone else.”

“What if people do the spell after a few dates and they aren’t soulmates?” 

“Usually they break up, but sometimes they don’t.” Ginny shrugged. “With so many dead from the war, a lot of people will probably get married to people they’re friends with, even if they aren’t soulmates.” Because their true soulmate had likely died. It was a harrowing thought. Ginny continued, “It’s what I’d do with Harry.”

Ginny slipped under her covers. “Any way, we should call it a night. I just wanted to let you know.”

Hermione nodded numbly, her mind reviewing all the information she’d just been given. She looked down at the book in her hands. It all just seemed so ridiculous. She remembered Lavender and Parvati going on about it… Hermione shook her head and put the book on her nightstand. She’d think about it more tomorrow.

“Nox.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! This is more of the writing style that you can expect with future chapters.


	3. June 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gears are beginning to fall into place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

June 2

“I did it!!”

Ginny came bounding around the corner, almost crashing into her. She wrapped Hermione in a hug. “I was right! I was right. Harry really is my soulmate.” 

“That’s great, Ginny!” Hermione really was happy for the girl, but she was even happier to have avoided the drama a negative result would have produced.

“Thank you, Hermione. I know you don’t particularly care about the whole thing, and I know Harry doesn’t either, but I really am happy about it.”

“I’m glad.” Hermione gave the younger girl a hug. “What happened?”

“Well, I waited outside Ron’s room for Harry to get up and head downstairs, he’s always so tired in the morning he never notices anything.” Hermione smiled. That was certainly true, though Ron was worse. “And I whispered the spell and it hit him and I just felt so wonderful! It was warm and comforting, but like I’d been shocked or something, too. Like for a second I couldn’t notice anyone but Harry.” She smiled at Hermione’s confused expression. “The spell tests your magic as if you hadn’t grown up around up around each other and we’re meeting the other person for the first time, with both of your magic fully matured. If your soulmates, you’ll get the same feeling you would if you met your soulmate for the first time naturally.” Ginny grinned, the mischievous spark back in her eyes, “there are lots of romance novels about it, you know. I could lend you some of mine.” 

“I’ll pass, thanks.”

Ginny just laughed. “If you aren’t soulmates, the spell does nothing, of course. But I didn’t feel nothing! I felt something, and it was absolutely wonderful!” She hugged Hermione tightly. “I’m going to go tell Mum.” Ginny raced off, then paused. “You should do the spell with Ron, you know.” And then she was gone. 

With Ron? They were…dating, Hermione supposed. They hadn’t said anything, but there had been the kiss during the battle, and he’d gone with her to find her parents… Hermione sighed. Before she did anything with Ron, she should figure out what their relationship was.

First, though, she needed to write the letters to her family. She’d been putting off telling them about her parents for long enough. Thankfully she’d gotten all of their addresses before she’d left her parents’ house, just in case. 

She headed down stairs and toyed with her breakfast while she was lost in thought. She absentmindedly gave Ron and Harry hugs goodbye for the day, waving off their concerns over her mood by letting them know that she had other things on her mind for the day. 

She sat at the desk in Ginny’s room for what felt like hours, twirling the pen in her hand, before she finally mustered up her courage and began the first draft. 

Several wads of parchment later, Hermione finally had a version that she felt was suitable. She cast Geminio, copying it out onto several new pieces of parchment, along with making new versions of the newspaper clipping that had announced her parents’ deaths (after she had altered the page so that her parents’ pseudonyms changed into their real names, of course). After she had put all eight copies of the letter and newspaper clipping into separate envelopes, she painstakingly copied the addresses. Thankfully Minerva had finally agreed to set up a P.O. box for muggleborn students’ mail, so Hermione could use that as the return address. She was sure Minerva wouldn’t mind. 

Hermione slipped downstairs and noticed that a few of the boys had stayed home today and seemed to be degnoming the front yard, if the shouts were anything to go by. Hermione shook her head and went toward the back door, hoping to avoid the chaos.

“Going to town, dearie?” Mrs. Weasley was holding gloves in her hands, no doubt about to go join the boys. 

“Yes, Mrs. Weasley. I need to send some post.”

“I’ve told you, it’s Molly. You’re of age now, you can call me by my first name.” She tutted, then sighed. “Well, either way. Have a good trip and be careful.”

Hermione nodded, then slipped out the back, heading toward the apparition barrier. She had bought envelopes last week, but she had been in a hurry and forgotten the stamps. She’d have to ask them to add the stamps at the counter. 

Once she reached the barrier, Hermione apparated to the alley behind her old town’s post office. It was odd being back. Walking down the same streets she used to skip down while swinging her parents’ hands. A lump formed at the back of her throat, but she pushed it back and went into the office. 

The lady at the front desk was friendly enough, even if she didn’t remember Hermione. Her daughter had been in her second-grade class, if she remembered correctly. Her name had been Elizabeth. She always used to tease Hermione about not eating chocolate. Hermione left as quickly as possible.

One quick apparition later and she was walking back down the path toward the Burrow. The boys were still milling around the garden, but Hermione had no desire to join them in that mess, so she slipped around back again. 

Maybe some reading would do her good and distract her from her parents. She went upstairs, weighing the choices in her mind. She had been reading a wonderful series about magical creatures, but… Ginny would be insufferable if she didn’t start reading the book she’d lent her. Hermione sighed. 

Time to learn more about soulbonds.

Hermione lost herself in Bagshots’ prose, but in what felt like merely a few hours later a knock sounded on the door and she set the book aside.

“’Mione?” Lovely. She didn’t particularly want to talk to him at the moment, not until she’d finished the book and had time to think about the whole thing, really.

“What is it, Ronald?” She winced. 

“Um…” He seemed hesitant, likely due to her use of his full name. She sighed, about to get up and open the door, but he continued first, “Can I come in? I brought some dinner, if you’re hungry.” 

Dinner? Hermione cast a quick tempus. Half past five. Oh dear. Mrs. Weasley was probably in a tizzy since she had missed two meals. Hermione was surprised that no one had come up sooner. “Come in, Ron, it’s not a problem.” She wasn’t really that hungry, her body was still adjusting after her meagre diet during the war, but she probably should eat something. 

The door creaked open and Ron came in, holding a plate piled with potatoes, peas, and bread. “Mum insisted on bringing a lot, sorry. I tried to escape before she could pile on more.” He shrugged, then set the plate beside her on the desk, a glass of water beside it.

“Do you want to talk?” He was watching her carefully. Hermione supposed she did deserve this concern after locking herself in the room all day, but…

“I just didn’t want to deal with people today, sorry Ron.” She sighed, reaching for a piece of bread. “I really am fine, though.”

They sat there in silence for a few seconds, both of them munching on bread. Then Ron spoke again. “Ginny said she told you about soulmates.” He was looking at the book next to her plate, a piece of paper sticking out to mark her place. “That’s not why you’re holed up here, is it?”

Hermione began to choke on the bread, but recovered quickly. “No!” He looked a little relieved. “No, I just… I sent letters to my relatives this morning. You know, to let them know about my parents. I guess I’m a little depressed after that, that’s all.”

“Oh.” He picked up the last piece of bread, studying it, clearly debating whether or not to say anything. Hermione sighed.

“What is it?” She pulled the plate closer and began eating the peas and carrots. 

“It’s just…” He set the bread on his knee and looked up at her. “I did the spell a while ago, ‘Mione.”

She froze. “I see.” A cold sensation settled at the bottom of her gut. “And?”

“We’re not. Not soulmates, I mean.” His foot began tapping nervously. “I didn’t know what to do! I didn’t know if you’d believe me or just think it was rubbish.” His laugh was a bit strained, “Ginny had the right idea to give you a book, I suppose. Should have thought of that.”

“Ron.” He looked up at her, his eyebrows drawn together in worry. “Do you care?”

“I love you.” He shrugged, uneasy, “I know that. But I also want what Mom and Dad have. I wonder…” his voice trailed off for a second, then he continued. “I talked to Bill about it, you should know. He and Fleur aren’t soulmates either. I think that’s why Ginny’s so against her, to be honest. She doesn’t think Bill should have married her.”

“Would Ginny be against us, then? She said… she said that she’d stay with Harry, soulmate or not.”

“I don’t think she’d mind as much, with us.” He sighed, then bit off a chunk of the bread. He paused to swallow, “She already thinks of you as a sister, you know. The whole family acts as if you’re already family. Because you are family, you know? You’ve been with us so long…”

“Thank you, Ron,” Hermione laughed a bit, trying to chase away the unease that she felt about this whole conversation. “You’re getting a bit off track, though. What did Bill say?”

“He said Fleur had been looking for a long time for someone who resisted her allure. That they fell in love and it was during the war, who knew who would survive… so they got married. They wanted to have happy moments together, and it was worth every moment they shared in the past and would share in the future, even if they weren’t soulmates like our parents.”

That…didn’t sound too bad. Like Ron might then be willing to stay with her. His voice still sounded uncertain, though, which was worrisome. 

“I love you so much, Hermione.” His voice sounded broken.

“We don’t have to split up because of this, you know that, don’t you, Ron?” Her own voice was beginning to sound a bit desperate. She hated herself for it, but she had loved him for years. To have him leave her, for this… this uncertain, vague idea just didn’t seem right. 

“I know, but…we’ve been through hell together, Hermione. We’ve been through hell and we made it out alive.” He grinned at her, but it slowly faded. “I know we’d be good together. We’d work things out and make each other happy like Bill and Fleur are doing. But…” he sighed. “If there’s even a slim chance that you might find someone better, I don’t want to take that from you. I want you to be as happy as possible in the future, to make up for our crappy past.”

He…he thought she could be happier with someone else? “Ron, I appreciate that, but…” she reached out to hold his hand, “I’m happy with you. I always will be. Don’t you think I should be able to make my own decision about this?”

“Of course!” Ron looked up at her, eyes earnest and he clenched her hand, “But I think you should take it seriously. Don’t just hold on to me because we’re comfortable, because we work and we need something to stay steady in our terrible lives.” He looked down at the floor. “Someone out there is better for you than I am, Hermione. If that person is worth you, then…” he swallowed. “then there’s no way that they're dead. They’ll have fought and survived just like you.”

Hermione stood up and hugged him around his shoulders. “Just like you did, too, Ron.”

“I left, Hermione.”

“But you came back.”

“You deserve someone who would never leave, though. Just like you never left Harry.”

Hermione forced him to face her. “Stop talking about what I deserve, Ronald Weasley. If I deserve anything, it’s to have whatever relationship I want, and I love you. Faults and all.”

He snorted. “Yeah. That’s true right now.” He gave her a lopsided grin. “Promise me that you’ll think on it, though? I mean, really actually think about it?” 

She sighed, “Fine. I promise.” 

“Good.” He glanced at her half full plate. “At least eat a bit more of that before you bring it back down, alright? Mum no doubt’ll suspect that I helped you with it.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Will do. I honestly didn’t meant to stay in here all day.”

“Sure you didn’t. You just didn’t want to help degnome the garden. Don’t think I didn’t see you sneaking around back this morning.”

“There is that,” Hermione laughed, “thank you ever so much for being a gentleman and letting me get away with it.”

He looked back at her from the doorway. “Don’t get used to it. Those gnomes are vicious little blighters. Could have used another pair of hands.”

“I’m sure.” He grinned at her, then shut the door behind him.

Hermione’s smile immediately slipped from her face. 

Ron was always so insecure… she sighed. It was pretty obvious that while Ron thought they would work, he also thought he wasn’t good enough for her, despite everything that he’d done. He was so used to being in the shadow…he deserved someone who would force him into the limelight. Someone by whom he didn’t feel overwhelmed. Someone, as loathe as she was to admit it, other than her. Logically, she’d always known that Ron felt intimidated by her. It was infuriating, but it was true. She also knew he wanted a family. And he wanted lots of kids, which wasn't really what she wanted for the future. She wanted a child, yes, maybe two, but not any time soon. Hermione could understand why they weren’t soulmates, despite the fact that she loved him. 

Did she want to find someone else? No. But if there was someone out there, someone better for him… Hermione could understand Ron’s perspective. 

She would keep thinking about it. A week. She would think about it for a week, then talk to him again.


	4. June 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ron is...being mature?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

June 9

She’d thought about it.

She was sure everyone had noticed it, too. Harry especially had given her a couple of concerned looks. 

A week had passed… and she still wasn’t any closer to a conclusion. She loved him, but she wanted what was best for him. 

She knew she shouldn’t be selfish. That staying with him would be comfortable, like he’d said. She would be a Weasley, a part of the family that she loved so much, that all loved her. 

But Ron could have better, and she couldn’t do that to him, just like he had said he couldn’t do it to her. 

She sighed.

She wanted more time to think, but she knew that wouldn’t change anything. 

Wait. Time.

If they gave each other time… stayed friends, but tried to find that perfect match. Then if they didn’t, they could always come back to each other. Magic lengthened people’s lives. There was no need to decide their eternal partners today. 

She ran down the stairs. 

“Ron!”

Mrs. Weasley looked up in alarm. “Whatever is the matter dear?”

“Nothing.” Well that wasn’t entirely true. “Everything.” Hermione sighed, that was just plain melodramatic. “I just need to talk to Ron.”

“He’s outside by the pond, dearie.”

“Thank you.” Hermione ran down the pathway, not stopping to acknowledge Percy, who was apparently reading in the garden.

She stopped in front of Ron, panting.

“You ignore me for a week, then run out here like a bloody wild woman.” She looked up into his clear, amused eyes.

“Sorry.” She took a deep breath, then sat down across from him. “I’ve been thinking. Like you asked me to.”

His expression immediately became more guarded. “And?”

“I agree with you.”

“Come again?” He looked completely baffled. Hermione laughed.

“I agree with you, Ron.” She sighed. “This,” she gestured between them, “is comfortable. I like it, and I love you. But you deserve someone who doesn’t make you feel insignificant.”

“’mione, you don’t—” 

“Ronald, don’t you lie to me. Not about this.”

He sighed, defeated. “It’s nothing you mean to do, exactly. You’re just so bloody brilliant all the time.” 

She smiled softly, “Thank you for that. You really are amazing Ron, but whatever I say or do…” Hermione shrugged, “I’m not enough to help you believe in yourself, though I wish I was. And... I also don't want to settle down and have kids any time soon.”

Ron swallowed tightly. “So are we done, then?”

“You know, despite what your mother may believe, there’s no reason to rush into marriage, Ron.”

He looked at her blankly. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“There’s a thing muggles do. When you find someone who understands you, and you’re best of friends, but you don’t really see each other in a romantic way, you can promise to marry each other when you’re 30 if you never find anyone else before then.”

“So… we look for our soulmates, but if we don’t find them by 30, then…we’ll stay with each other?”

“Exactly. We stay best friends, but we won’t be in a romantic relationship. We look for our soulmates, but if we don’t find them, then…” she shrugged, “at least we’ll have each other.”

Ron was frowning, thinking. “That…could work. But until we’re 30? That’s a long time. There are only so many witches and wizards in England.”

“Fine.” She laughed, “30 was just a rough number, anyway. How about 25?”

“That’s a bit better, at least.”

“25 it is, then.” She smiled softly at him. “We’ll look for our soulmates, but if we both still haven’t found them when we’re 25, we’ll date and marry each other.” 

She held out her hand to him. Ron grasped it, then pulled them both up. 

“It’s a deal, Hermione.”


	5. June 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Define selfish?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

June 15  
“Andromeda Tonks died last night.”

Gasps circled around the room. McGonagall had gathered everyone in the Great Hall, but Hermione hadn’t dreamed that this would be her announcement. 

“Teddy is fine, thankfully he was staying with the Weasleys at the time,” her McGonagall nodded toward Molly and Arthur, “However” McGonagall pursed her lips in distaste, “Bellatrix Lestrange appears to have survived the final battle. Her magical signature was on Andromeda’s body.”

Bellatrix. Hermione felt the blood rush to her head. But Mrs. Weasley had… she had killed her. Hermione had seen it. Bellatrix had just withered and… disappeared. There hadn’t been a corpse. She swallowed, lightheaded. It had been weeks since the final battle. Bellatrix was likely fully recovered, now. And the first thing she had done was to go and kill her own sister. Hermione felt like throwing up. She braced her head with one hand, grateful that she was sitting. The voices around her began to blur.. the scar on arm pulsed. Her neck throbbed. She could remember the cackling. There was cackling everywhere, surrounding her. 

No. 

Hermione gripped the solid wooden bench beneath her with one hand. There wasn’t cackling. There hadn’t been a wooden bench, then. There had just been the cold marble. 

She was in the Great Hall. 

She opened her eyes. Harry and Ron were looking at her with concern, but she smiled at them weakly and they appeared satisfied. 

McGonagall was still talking. Hermione tried to figure out from context what she missed. Rodolphys had broken out of Azkaban. They didn’t know how, but for now they assumed it was Bellatrix. No one had found Rabastan’s corpse after the battle, or seen him since then, which meant he was likely the one who had helped Bellatrix recover. 

The Malfoys had been on trial yesterday. Hermione hadn’t even known. The older two were sentenced to be kissed, but the younger was pardoned and released, but under heavy watch. Apparently he had proven through veritaserum, penseive, and legilimency that he had only been acting to save his parents’ lives, and that he had resisted Voldemort at key moments—not killing Dumbledore or revealing Harry’s identity. 

McGonagall ended by listing the names of Death Eaters that had been caught and sentenced since the battle, then dismissed everyone to various tasks around the castle. At the end, only Harry and Hermione were left.

“Mr. Potter, I’m afraid you now hold sole guardianship of young Teddy.” Hermione reached out and squeezed her friend’s hand. “I hope you know that we will all help you. Though legally you are his only guardian, you are never alone.”

“Thank you, professor. I…” He swallowed, “How do I tell him about Andromeda? About the fact that he’ll never see her again.”

“That, my dear boy, is always a difficult decision, but you might tell him that she has gone to see her husband and his own parents.”

Harry nodded slowly. “I think…I’m going to go back to the Burrow for today, professor. Spend some time with him.”

“A wise decision, my boy. Spend as much time there as you need. We will make do here.” Hermione gave him a brief hug, then watched as he turned away to walk to the edge of campus. When she turned back around, McGonagall was pulling a muggle envelope out of her robes. 

“You have mail, my dear. I will be up in the headmaster’s office if you need me.” She patted her on the shoulder. “I thought you might want to read it in private.” She walked a few steps, then turned back, “When you’re done reading, if you’re up to it, do you think you could join the crew out by the greenhouses? Some of the more dangerous plants have gotten out of control without Pomona’s care and I’m afraid they’ll need to find new homes in the forest.”

Hermione nodded absentmindedly, “I’ll be glad to.” She stared at the address. Japan? Of all the relatives to contact her, she hadn’t expected the Tsukishima’s. Sarah Tsukishima was her mother’s sister who had married a Japanese student who had been studying abroad. She had emailed her cousins often she was younger, but that had stopped once she’d started Hogwarts. She’d only ever met the family once, though they had seemed nice. A bitter smile stretched across her face and she pulled the letter out.

_Dear Hermione,_

_I can’t tell you how much it saddens me to hear of my sister’s passing. I’ve always regretted that my move meant a more distant relationship with her and with you. I can’t help but be worried for you right now. I know we haven’t seen each other in years, but you’re only seventeen, and I can’t help but feel like that’s too young to be on your own, even if you said that you were fine and staying with a friend’s family. If you should ever want a change of scenery, please come and visit us. Maybe my distance from England could be advantageous for once. I would offer to come visit you, but I’m afraid it would just be me and, with work and all, I would only be able to come for about a week. If that would help, of course, I would be glad to do so. Mail takes a while to come back and forth, so would you please email me and let me know how you’re doing? My address is SarahTsuki11@gmail.com. I am glad that you have such good friends that are helping you during this trying time, but know that you have family members that would love to help you, as well._

_Love,_  
_Sarah Tsukishima_

Hermione sat down, trying to control her emotions. A change of scenery… the great hall stretched before her, achingly familiar and yet so different and broken. One lone table instead of the once four. Tears began to fall. First Bellatrix, now this. Looking back, she couldn’t help but wonder if Bellatrix had been responsible for her parents’ deaths. She might never know. 

Japan.

It was selfish, they needed as much help as possible getting Hogwarts back in shape, but Hermione really wanted to leave. To go somewhere unaffected by war. A place where people didn’t stare at her or rush to shake her hand.

It was selfish, but she had given so much to the war. Surely she deserved some selfishness?


	6. June 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family matters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

June 16

Hermione sat in an empty computer stall at her old local library, trying to log on. She felt like she hadn’t been gone from the muggle for that long, but apparently there had already been several system updates for computers and the user interface now looked completely different. She breathed a sigh of relief when she finally pulled up the internet.

First off, she needed an email account. She had absolutely no clue what the password was to her old one, anyway, and it was probably filled with nothing but junk mail.

Hermione opened google and sighed. Shouldn’t it be easier to find the gmail tab? In the end she just decided to use the search box to find it. It felt ridiculous, but it worked. 

Thankfully her name was unique enough that hermionjgranger worked for her address, so she quickly set about scrolling through the tutorial in order to get to the point where she could send a message to her aunt. Thankfully it didn’t take too long. Once the screen was up, though, Hermione found herself clueless as to what she should say. The truth, she supposed, or as close to it as she could get.

_Aunt Sarah,_

__

__

_Thank you for your letter. It might surprise you, but you’re the only one who has written back to me. I’m afraid my family has grown quite distant from the others over the past few years._

Since she knew she was a witch, really, and her parents didn’t know how to explain her life to her other family members. Hermione swallowed hard, then struggled to continue.

_If you are still willing to have me, I would love to come and visit you. My friends are wonderful, but England is definitely full of unpleasant memories at the moment. A change of pace sounds like exactly what I need._

__

_As for the logistics, there’s no need to worry about travel funds, I have plenty of money. I would even be glad to offer you some compensation for food and such, if it would be helpful._

__

_Love,  
Hermione Granger._

Hermione bit her lip, then pressed send. 

Should she wait for a reply? She supposed it wouldn’t hurt…she had left the Burrow right after breakfast this morning, so it was just 9:30 am. That would make it…she did a quick google search..5:30 in Japan. Her aunt might reply soon. And Hermione was in a library, so it wasn’t like she didn’t have anything to do. 

After logging off, Hermione wandered over to the travel section, found a book about Japan, and then set down to read for a while. She was instantly fascinated by all of the cultural differences but concerned about her own lack of familiarity with the language. At least her aunt spoke English. She hadn’t seen her cousins in forever, but she remembered speaking in English with them. Hopefully they still knew the language. 

After an hour or so she wandered back to the computer, and was pleasantly surprised to see a reply already sitting in her inbox. 

_Hermione,_

__

_It’s so good to hear from you again! I’m saddened to hear that no one else has reached out to you. Thank you for contacting me. And of course we’ll be glad for you to visit! There’s no need to compensate us at all. In fact, let us know how much the plane costs and we’ll be glad to pay you back. You’ll need that money for the future, alright? You can come whenever you want, just let us know. Kei and Akiteru don’t get out of school until July 15th, though, so it might be a bit lonely around the house. I’m sure your school has already let out for the summer, but if you want something to do we could probably arrange for you to attend Kei’s highschool for a bit. Of course, all the classes are held in Japanese, so that might be a bit difficult for you. I remember you always loved learning new things when you were little, though, so if you want to, know that we can make it happen._

__

_Love,_

__

_Aunt Sarah_

Hermione stared at the screen. Muggle highschool? In Japan? 

At first she baulked at the idea. Sure, her parents had tried to homeschool her in muggle subjects, but she had barely touched the high school material. Too much had been going on. 

But then she thought of spending hours alone in her cousins’ house, and that sounded miserable. She wanted a distraction, and muggle school would certainly provide that. As for the language barrier… she didn’t know of any spells that could do translations or anything of that sort, otherwise they could have used it for the mermish back in fourth year. Or Viktor could have talked with her more easily. No, magic wouldn’t be able to solve that problem, but… maybe if she could just ask to observe classes so that she could try to learn the Japanese language? It would be unusual, sure, but given her circumstances, they might allow it, especially since it would be for less than a month, really. 

She typed out a reply to her aunt, once again insisting that she pay for her own travel (since it would be easiest just to use an international portkey), enquiring about the school, and setting a tentative travel date as June 25th, in a little over a week. 

That done, she went back to her book. It was around 7:00 in Japan, now, so she might now get a reply, but she’d rather wait around to be sure. As long as she was back for lunch Mrs. Weasley wouldn’t worry. 

She stayed at the computer this time, though. Few people seemed to be using them, so she could afford to keep one to herself. 

Around half an hour later, a red notification bubble popped up on her screen. 

A reply.

She quickly clicked to open it.

_Hermione,_

__

_We would be glad to see you on the 25th! We live in Shiroishi, a small city in Miyagi prefecture. If you could get to the Shiroishi-Zao station, we could meet you there. Or I could send one of the boys to meet you at the airport. I know public transportation can be confusing, especially in a new place. And you really shouldn’t worry about the price, but I suppose I can’t force us to tell you how much you spent, so we’ll just have to pay you back in other ways ;)_

__

_As far as school goes, your request sounds reasonable, especially since it would just be for a few weeks. It certainly would be difficult to achieve high grades when you don’t know the language! I can talk to the principal tomorrow and get back with you._

__

_Since you’ll just be focusing on language acquisition, would you want to be in Kei’s class? Even though he’s younger, it might be easier to manage with a friendly face, especially one that is fluent in English._

__

_Love,_

__

_Aunt Sarah_

Hermione quickly typed a reply that she could meet them at the Shiroishi-Zao station, and that Kei’s class would be lovely, then sat back in relief. She would be going to Japan. She wrote the station’s name on one of the bookmarks by the computer so that she would remember it. 

Since her Aunt wouldn’t know anything else until tomorrow, Hermione went ahead and logged out. She sighed. Now that she had a date, everything felt much more real. 

The Weasleys were all supportive of her trip, but she still needed to talk to Shacklebolt about the portkey. She supposed no time was better than the present.

She returned the book, then made her way to an alley to apparate. The ministry was chaotic, just as always since the war. Too many people lost and too many positions left vacant. 

She carefully weaved through people, ignoring the frequent stares, and made her way to the minister’s office. 

A Ravenclaw from a few years above her sat in the secretary’s chair. “I need to see Kingsley Shacklebolt, please.”

“The minister is busy at the moment.”

Hermione sighed. She should have seen this coming, but she really wanted as few people as possible to know where she was going, especially the particular location. Shacklebolt had the authority to make sure only he knew those details, and with Bellatrix Lestrange on the loose, Hermione did not want her location to be public knowledge. 

“Tell him it’s Hermione Granger.”

“He’s busy.”

Hermione’s eyebrow twitched. She had just seen the man yesterday at the meeting and while she knew he certainly was busy, she also knew he could spare the five seconds this would take. 

“I have other ways of contacting him.” She did, but they were all rather flashy and unnecessary like a patronus, “Please don’t make me use them, as they would simply waste his time further.”

The girl sniffed. “Fine. I’ll let him know you’re here, Granger.”

Twit. 

A second later the girl came back. “He’ll see you now.”

“Thank you.”

Shacklebolt laughed when he saw her annoyed expression. “Sorry about that, but usually I prefer to have her chase people away.”

“Well, I suppose that would be true.” Hermione smiled at him, then went straight to business after she shut the door and confirmed that there were wards present. She did, after all, realize that his time was valuable. “I need a favor.”

“Name it. Everyone owes you quite a few favors after the war, Hermione.”

Hermione shook her head, “It’s just something small. I want to take a holiday of sorts and visit my family in Japan, but I don’t want anyone to be able to find records saying that I’m there.”

“So you need a ministry approved portkey without the hassle of the traceable ministry paperwork.”

“Exactly.”

“For you, Hermione, I can do that. I’ll have to create a file, but it will be only one sheet of paper and it will be in my office at all times under heavy wards. Is that acceptable?”

Hermione nodded.

“You said Japan, then. When and where to?”

“June 25th, and…” she paused to pull the bookmark out of her pocket, “as close to Shiroishi-Zao station in Shiroishi, Miyagi prefecture as possible.”

Shacklebolt filled out a form. “Do you have anything that would work for the portkey?” 

Hermione shrugged and handed him the bookmark. 

Shacklebolt took it, then tapped it with his wand, “Portus.” He handed it back to her. “That will activate at 8:00 am, English time, and take you to the Japanese Ministry. From there it will act as a ticket of sorts to get you where you want.” Shacklebolt shrugged, “Having never been there myself, I’m not exactly sure how it’s done, but that’s the procedure on our end. You’ll return to the same place whenever you want to leave, and they’ll send you here.”

“Thank you, Shacklebolt.” 

“It’s Kingsley, Hermione. We’ve been through more than enough together.”

“Right.” He laughed at her uneasy expression. “One question, then I’ll leave.” She paused, “Can I tell them about magic? Do you know what the laws in Japan are like about that?”

Kingsley sighed, “I know they’re a bit looser than ours, but since you’re an English citizen our laws will apply. That being said, at this point they’re your closest family, yes?”

Hermione nodded. “My mother’s sister and her family.”

“Then they can know about magic. They’re your closest blood family and you will be living under their roof, even if temporarily.”

“Thank you…Kingsley.” It sounded wrong to say his first name, but he looked happy to hear it, at least. “I’ll leave you to your business then. Thank you for seeing me.”

“Have a good trip, Hermione. You deserve it.”


	7. June 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

June 17

Hermione made sure she got to the library right after it opened at 9 am. She logged in and was relieved to see a message waiting for her from her aunt.

_Hermione,_

_I talked to Kei’s principal and they’d be happy to have you come sit in. Honestly, they’re quite thrilled at having a native speaker around who might be willing to help the students. I’m afraid we don’t get many foreign exchange students or anything like that here since we’re such a rural city._

_We’ll see you on the 25th! Let us know what time you’ll be arriving so that we can meet you at the station._

_Love,_

_Aunt Sarah_

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. She would have something to do during the day those first few weeks. It would be difficult, sure, but she needed that kind of distraction at the moment. 

She quickly typed a reply,

_Aunt Sarah,_

_That sounds wonderful, and I’ll be happy to help people, hopefully they’ll be willing to help me with my Japanese in return! I’m afraid I’m a complete beginner. I’ll try to learn Hiragana and Katakana before I come, at least._

_I’ll be there around 4:15. See you then! It’s been too long._

_I’ll be checking my email when I can, but my friends don’t have internet and I’m using the local library’s, so it may be a while between my replies after this._

_Love,_

_Hermione._


	8. June 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

June 25

7:59 am, Friday, June 25.

Hermione picked up the bookmark and held her trunk firmly in one hand. She’d managed to disillusion it so that it looked like a muggle suitcase with each extra level activated by a password. Thanks to that, she had been able to pack all of her things, though it left Ginny’s room looking a little sparse. Hermione hadn’t realized how much she had invaded her friend’s space and she’d felt a bit guilty, even if Ginny hadn’t seemed to mind. 

She ran through her mental checklist. Sirius’ mirror was in her pocket so that she could keep in touch with the boys. Her wand was in its holster, invisible on her lower arm, and her spare wands were in the trunk. She had plenty of potions—

Her thoughts derailed as she felt the familiar swirl and tug, though it lasted much longer than the usual sensation. She struggled to hold onto both the bookmark and her trunk, but she managed. After the portkey dropped her, she stumbled to the floor, then pulled herself up against her trunk. Thankfully no one seemed to have paid any attention to her less than graceful entrance. 

There were tori gates all around her with what she assumed were city names floating in the air above each gate. She reached into her bag and cast a quick accio for the piece of paper with the Tsukishima’s address and the name of the station where she was supposed to meet them. She grabbed it and walked toward a small plump man who was standing at the center of the room in the middle of a circular desk. People bustled around her, walking underneath different gates and disappearing as they did so. 

“Excuse me?” She blinked. It sounded like she had just spoken Japanese. But that was impossible? Or so she thought… her brow furrowed as she tried to recall if she’d read anything about it. 

The man laughed at her, then bobbed his head in a quick bow, “Don’t worry, there’s a charm on the room. Makes everyone speak and understand Japanese. Much simpler that way. Too advanced to do everywhere, you know, but this is the room for international and far-traveling portkeys, so such things need to be done. Many lost travelers wandering around with no knowledge of the area.”

Alright, well that certainly did help speed things along. She held out the bookmark. “I need to reach this station. How do I do that?”

“Our transportation system in Japan, be it magical or muggle, is the absolute best.” The man puffed up with pride. “No problems, no problems at all with our service. Just go through that gate there and that will take you anywhere in Miyagi prefecture, which is where you’ll want to go. Just say the name of the station you’re going to, like you would in your British floos, you know, but much better because there’s none of that soot. Highly unsanitary, don’t know how you stand it.” Hermione bit her lip, it really was, but it wasn’t like any of the wizards back home gave it a second thought. “Anyway, just go under the tori gate, say the name of the station, and you’ll appear in a small room in the station we’ve made for travelling witches and wizards. Open the door and you’ll find yourself at the front of the station.” He began nodding to himself, “No problems, no problems at all. The doors just look like an out of order bathroom to those without magic. You might get a few odd looks for coming out of one of those, but that’ll be it. If you ever want to come back to the ministry, just touch the back wall of the station room and you’ll come back here. No problems, no problems at all.” The man nodded firmly. “Anything else?”

Hermione shook her head, “Not at the moment, no.”

She was rewarded with a bright smile and a nod. “Welcome to Japan, then.”

Hermione nodded firmly, then approached the Miyagi gate, her suitcase rolling behind her. “Shiroishi Zao station.” She felt a twisting not-unlike apparition and reached out to steady herself when she landed. The room she was in was quite small and bleached white with scrolls hanging around the walls and a grey door at the front. She walked forward, pulled open the door, and nearly ran into someone who was speeding by her. They shot her a quick, disapproving glance, then kept going on their way as Hermione took in her surroundings.

Honestly, if you switched the languages, it was very similar to the tube back home. 

“Granger-san!” Hearing her name, Hermione’s head whipped to the right and she saw two tall, blonde boys approaching her with a short blonde woman walking beside them. The Tsukishimas. Sarah, Akiteru, and Kei.

“It’s good to see you again.” She smiled at them, “Hermione is fine, though, really. We’re family, after all.” She paused, looking at the two boys. “You two have really grown.” She remembered Akiteru being tall when they’d last met, and Kei being somewhat taller than her, but their current height was a bit ridiculous. 

Kei just smirked and nodded, while Akiteru robbed the back of his head. “We get it from our father.” He smiled and held out his hand, “Can I carry your luggage? And you will have to use our first names, as well then.”

It turned out they could walk from their house to the station within five minutes or so, so the four of them walked together along the road, Hermione looking around her with curiosity as Sarah and Akiteru babbled on about various things and Kei followed along silently. 

She didn’t remember Kei being this silent in the past, but she supposed people changed a lot as they grew older, especially when they went through puberty. 

Their house was pleasant, and Hermione was glad to see that there was a guest room and she wouldn’t be kicking anyone out of a room. Sarah had made a traditional English dinner of potatoes and steak, which Hermione greatly appreciated, and her uncle, Riku, arrived a few minutes after she did. 

It was during dinner, though, that Hermione stumbled into the conversation that she had been dreading. 

It started simply enough. A “what’s your favorite subject” from her Aunt, but Hermione froze. 

She wouldn’t lie to them. She had permission. But she was so used to the secrecy…

“I go to a bit of a nontraditional school.” Not a lie. Not the whole truth, either, of course. 

“Oh?”

“It’s an old-fashioned boarding school in Scotland.” Surely it would be easier to slowly introduce the concept? Who was she kidding. You couldn’t slowly introduce magic.

“That sounds interesting.” Now Akiteru was keeping the conversation going. Hermione gulped. “What do you mean by old-fashioned?”

“They don’t believe in technology, so we have to do everything by hand.” She wrinkled her nose, “they don’t even let us use ballpoint pens!” 

The two sons looked confused by this, but her aunt just laughed, “What do you use to write, then?”

“Feather quills.”

“Feather quills?” Kei and Akiteru were still confused. “Like from birds?”

“Precisely. With ink pots.”

Her aunt was laughing harder, now. “Surely you must be joking.”

“I’m afraid not.” Hermione sighed, she really did miss pens. “I use pens sometimes in my dorm, though. The other girls wouldn’t say anything.” Because they didn’t know what a pen was. 

“What else do they do that’s odd?”

“Well, we still use lanterns, instead of electricity.”

“Doesn’t it get cold?”

“A bit, but we have blankets,” and warming spells, “and the fires keep us warm.”

“Why not just use electricity, though?”

“The school believes that trials,” like trolls and basilisks and tournaments “build character. Supposedly we’ll become better citizens” i.e. witches and wizards “that way.” 

“I can’t imagine my sister sending you to a place like that.” Her aunt was shaking her head. 

“It’s very prestigious and came highly recommended.” 

“Well, that’s good, at least.”

The conversation lulled, and Hermione fidgeted, fingering the edge of her shirt. How in Merlin’s name could she do this? They were going to think she was insane and send her back to England. 

They had finished dinner now. She had to make a move. Before the family split up for the night or started the next activity. “Can I… can I show you all something?” A book. Moving pictures would be a start. 

“Of course.”

“It’s in my bag. I’ll go get it, if you all would wait in the living room or something?”

“Sure, take your time. I’ll just pick up the dishes.”

Hermione rushed upstairs to her trunk, whispering the password for her books and then pulling a few of them out. _Fantastic Beasts, Magical Drafts and Potions, History of Magic_ , and _The Standard Book of Spells._

She didn’t have any magical looking items, but…she pulled out the new scarf Ginny had given her, with the Gryffindor lion that roared on it. That might work. She grabbed her bag with the extension charms and dropped the items in, wincing at the sound of something that fell over. The bag itself might help, too. 

When she got downstairs they were all sitting on the couch, talking quietly in Japanese. Hermione swallowed. 

“Forgive me, Hermione-chan, but you look a bit scared. Is everything alright?”

Hermione looked at her uncle. She was terrified. She’d fought a war for Merlin’s sake, but this was the only family she had left. Her only link left to her parents. She took a deep breath, then reached down into the bag, down to her shoulder. She heard their gasps and closed her eyes, then brought out Fantastic Beasts. 

“This is a textbook at my school.” She flipped it open. Fairies danced and sprang up and down, occasionally hiding behind the text. She turned a few pages. A Chinese Fireball flew across, then set the text on fire so that it tumbled to the bottom as ash. She always hated it when that happened. She looked up at her relatives faces.

Her aunt’s voice was hesitant. “What exactly are we seeing, Hermione-chan?”

“I’m a witch.” Her voice was steadier that she thought it would be. “That’s why my school is so weird. Why the pictures in the textbook move. Why I have a textbook that talks about creatures that aren’t supposed to exist.”

She set it down on the coffee table, then pushed it closer to them. They just stared at it. She sighed and sat down, then reached into her bag; their eyes widened in understanding, this time, when her arm disappeared up to her shoulder. She pulled out Ginny’s scarf.

“I’m in Gryffindor House at school. Our mascot is a lion. The lion roared and pawed at the fringes on the bottom of the scarf. 

“Can I—?” Her aunt was reaching toward it. Hermione nodded, and her aunt gently touched the lion. It began to preen.

Hermione reached down into the bag, then set the other textbooks on the coffee table. “These are some of the books I got when I was eleven years old and started at Hogwarts, my school.”

Kei slowly reached for the history textbook, pausing until she nodded permission, and he picked it up. He leafed through the pages, Akiteru looking over his shoulder. Her uncle was still staring at the scarf with a bemused expression.

“Say something?” Hermione hated how her voice quivered at the end. They didn’t seem to be about to throw her out of the house, but…

“Oh, Hermione-chan.” Her aunt came around the table and Hermione melted into her hug. It wasn’t quite as warm and comforting as Mrs. Weasley’s, but it was close. “You were terrified to tell us this, weren’t you?”

“Well…” Hermione laughed softly, “You have to admit that it sounds insane.”

Kei snorted and muttered something in Japanese, but Akiteru whacked his shoulder. 

“It does, but…” Her aunt looked down at the scarf in her hands, “I don’t know how else to explain what I’m holding.” She paused, “If magic really exists, then why is it kept secret?”

“It started with the witch hunts, really, then just…kept going.” She shrugged, “there are laws now, to keep it secret. You can only tell your closest relatives.” She looked away as they came to the realization that they were now her closest relatives.

“If you’re a witch,” Kei set down the history textbook to pick up her old charms one, “What all can you do?”

Hermione noted his use of ‘if,’ but decided to ignore it for now. He’d have his proof soon enough. “All sorts of spells really.” She flicked her wrist and her aunt gasped when her wand suddenly materialized in her hand. “Sorry, um…” Hermione sighed, “I’m a bit paranoid, so I usually keep my wand in an invisible wrist holster. You’ll feel it if you touch my wrist, but otherwise,” she shrugged, “no one can see it.”

“So you use wands.”

“and potions, and brooms, and all those typical things, yes. I even have a cat, but I left him with my friends.”

Kei blinked, absorbing this information. Hermione was beginning to think that he was a bit more like her than the rest of his family, at least as far as his thirst for knowledge. “Owls?”

“My friends have some, yes.” 

He cracked the book open. “It says here you can…levitate things?” He looked at her questioningly. Hermione smiled at the nostalgic spell. She set one of the books on the ground, away from all her relatives lest they think she was pointing it at them, then carefully enunciated, “Wingardium Leviosa.” The book floated effortlessly up into the air and she guided it over to her uncle’s hands, then let it drop. 

They all stared at her.

“My cousin’s a witch.” Akiteru managed to look fascinated and terrified, all at once. 

Maybe she should wait a bit before she told them about the war. 

“Can I borrow this book?” Kei was pointing at her History of Magic textbook.

She sighed, “It’s a bit biased as a source, and doesn’t go into recent years,” thankfully, “but sure.” She tapped the cover, transfiguring it into a plain green cover that read ‘The Rules of the Court in England.’ Kei looked mystified, but also slightly amused. “Now you can take it out into public, as long as you don’t let anyone read it or see the pictures.”

“Thank you.” He pulled the book a bit closer to his chest, and Akiteru laughed at him.

“He’s going to be barraging you with questions for weeks, you know.”

Hermione smiled slightly. She’d been right. “He’s welcome to.” She grinned, “He just has to help me with Japanese in exchange.”

Kei gave her a smirk, “I suppose that would be fair.”


	9. June 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

The next morning found her eating some scrambled eggs in the kitchen, laughing as Kei fired off question after question about the magical world. He had stayed up all night and finished the book and now had even more questions than before.

“What is quidditch?”

“A sport played on brooms. Some of my friends were on the Gryffindor team.”

“One of those being Harry Potter?”

“Yes.” Hermione rolled her eyes. She had forgotten that Bagshot’s book included Voldemort’s first demise. Kei had done the math and figured out that Harry was her age, and that she must have known him.

The doorbell rang. 

Kei looked down at his watch and groaned, then stood up. “I have to go. Practice.”

“On a Saturday?”

“Volleyball.” He rolled his eyes, “Our team is determined to win nationals.”

“You must be good.” She followed him to the door, leaning against the wall while he put on his shoes.

“Not really, they’re all just determined idiots.”

Hermione laughed, “Well, good luck, then.”

“We can keep talking when I get back?”

She nodded, smiling to herself as Kei left the house, greeting someone named Yamaguchi before the door closed. 

Hermione went back to pick up their dishes but found that her aunt already had. “Thank you for answering all of Kei-kun’s questions. He’s never liked it when he couldn’t understand things, so…” her aunt shrugged and her voice trailed off.

“I don’t mind, really. I was honestly much the same way, and it’s a bit refreshing to see someone reacting to it all for the first time.”

“When did you know you were a witch?”

“Strange things would happen sometimes around me, it’s called accidental magic, but I didn’t really know why until one of my professors came to visit me after I turned eleven.”

“Eleven?” Her aunt smiled softly. “That’s about when your mother stopped talking about you as much. I’d always been confused by that. She used to send such elaborate stories of your time at school, then they all just…stopped. I suppose it was because she couldn’t say anything.”

Hermione sighed, picking up a dishtowel to help with the drying. “She also didn’t know too much, honestly. I didn’t tell her many stories because I was homesick, but didn’t want them to worry.”

Her aunt flicked some soap suds at her. “It’s a mother’s prerogative to worry, dear. We do it whether you tell us things to worry about or not.”

“I suppose.” Hermione gave her aunt a strained smile. She knew that very well. It was why she had completely erased her parents’ memories of her.

There was thumping down the stairs, then Akiteru came into view. “Morning!” He grabbed an apple and began to eat it. “I have to go back to campus tomorrow night, Hermione-chan, so I thought I’d get to know you a bit while Kei-kun’s at practice. Fancy a tour of the town?”

Hermione nodded, but, as it turned out, the tour of the town was actually quite small in scale. Akiteru tried to make it interesting with tales of their childhood adventures, but there still wasn’t much to speak for. Except, perhaps, lots of hiking paths, but those didn’t hold any appeal to her after her horcrux camping trip.

Hermione sighed. She needed to tell them all about the war. She couldn’t keep staying here, putting them at risk…she’d set wards up last night, of course, after everyone had gone to bed and it was dark enough that the neighbors wouldn’t see her. But still…

When Akiteru and she returned to the house that afternoon, Hermione was both relieved and dismayed to see Kei’s shoes at the doorway.

Akiteru laughed at her expression, thinking that she’d wanted to avoid Kei’s questions a while longer, but she shook her head and asked if everyone was available to talk again. 

Hermione paced around the room as she waited. How in Merlin’s name could she explain the wizarding war? 

They came down one by one, watching her pacing with bemusement.

“Hermione dear,” her aunt began tentatively, “Whatever you want to tell us, it will be alright. Just like it was last night.”

Hermione smiled tightly, “This is a bit different.” Being a witch didn’t endanger them. This did.

When all four of them were seated, Hermione took a deep breath. “The wizarding world isn’t all good, as I’m sure common sense would tell you, but…” she trailed off, still unsure of where to begin, “there are prejudices, I suppose, like any other society.”

“Against people born to those without magic. Against you, right?” Kei was watching her carefully, and Hermione slowly nodded, not surprised that he’d picked up on that. 

“Yes, against me and others like me. They… the people who don’t like me, they started a war.”

“The book said that happened twenty years ago.” Kei frowned.

Hermione sighed, “I told you that didn’t go into recent history.”

“How recent are you talking, dear?” Her aunt was clutching her uncle’s hand.

“The past three years or so, depending on whom you ask.” 

“That recent?” Her aunt was aghast.

“Is it over?” Riku Tsukishima put his own hand on top of his wife’s. 

Hermione nodded to her uncle, then tried to find some mental distance from the events as she recited, “The war ended at the Battle of Hogwarts on May 2, when Harry Potter defeated Lord Voldemort, the leader of those prejudiced against me, for a second time, this time killing him.”

Her aunt and uncle sagged with relief, but Kei was looking at her with alarm, and Akiteru was looking between the two of them, trying to figure out why. Then something clicked, and he stared at her. “You said Hogwarts was the name of your school.”

“It is.”

“The battle was at your school?!” Her aunt was clutching her uncle’s hand again. Hermione sighed.

“You said Harry Potter was your best friend.” The other three froze and looked at Kei, then slowly turned to her. 

“Yes.” Her aunt gasped again. “He is.”

“You were involved in the war, weren’t you? If your best friend won it, there’s no way you weren’t close by.”

“I was.” 

There was silence for a few seconds, then her aunt spoke, “But you survived.”

Hermione nodded sadly. “I did, but many didn’t.” She took a deep breath and looked up at them. “Including my parents.”

Her aunt swallowed. “I…I don’t understand. They died after May 2.”

“I sent them away. I was the reason they moved to Australia, they wouldn’t have done it, but I wanted them safe. I knew they’d be killed if they stayed in Britain. I felt that they should have as little magical contact as possible, that way no one would know where to look for them.” 

She sighed, “I realize now that someone on the other side must have read my mind, there’s a branch of magic, legilimency, and it takes years to learn how to block it. I haven’t had the time to learn.” She shook her head, sadly. “I played a big part of the war. Was on the opposing side’s most wanted list and everything,” she ignored their looks of horror. “After the war, there were, are really, still a few people loose from the other side. They tracked down my parents and killed them for revenge against me.” 

She looked at each of them and as that sunk in, their countenances paling. “I put up wards last night. None of them will get near this house without my knowledge.” She was determined to protect them, even if the chances of an attack were slim. 

“I won’t make the same mistake again, I promise. Only a few people even know I’m in Japan and only one person knows the name of this town, and he doesn’t know your names. And he’s an occlumens, so he can resist someone reading his mind.” He had to be, to be minister. 

She swallowed. “I understand if you don’t want me to stay, though.” She rushed onward, “There are very few of them still at large, but there is still a risk, even if I’m doing what I can to protect you…”

Hermione froze when her aunt lunged forward to hug her. “Oh Sweetie,” her aunt pulled back, but only so that she could look her in the face, “I know your mother would be so proud of you. You’ve gone through so much, but you’re still trying to do what’s best for others, not yourself.” 

“But I am being selfish!” Hermione felt tears welling up in her eyes, “I came here. I came here when it would put you in danger. I came here when they needed all the help they could to rebuild Hogwarts before the fall term.”

“And I’m glad you did. Glad.” She squeezed Hermione’s shoulders a bit to emphasize her point. “Family should always stick together. Right?” Her aunt stared at her until Hermione nodded. 

“Good. I don’t care if you want to stay a few weeks or a few years, Hermione-chan. I don’t care if there are people after you. You are always welcome here.” She pulled her close again, giving her one last hug before she stepped back.

“Thank you.” Her voice came out quieter than she’d like. 

Hermione reached into her pocket, pulling out four braided leather bracelets. “If I’m staying, just in case something does happen…would you all wear these? They’re portkeys. Um… teleporting devices.” She set them down on the table, and the four stared at the simple bracelets incredulously. “If anything happens, just say ‘portus’ and, as long as you’re wearing them, they’ll immediately transport you and whoever you’re touching to the Japanese Ministry of Magic.” She paused, “I don’t know the laws here, but it’s not exactly legal in Britain to make them without ministry approval, so… please don’t use them unless it’s an emergency. If you don’t use them, no one will know, but if you use them when it’s an emergency, no one will care. I’ll most likely be in trouble if you use them frivolously, though.”

Kei was the first to pick one up, turning it around slowly in his hands before he slipped it onto his wrist. His eyes widened slightly when the leather automatically adjusted to have a snug fit against his skin. “It’s not too tight, is it? They’re charmed to be waterproof, fireproof, and hex resistant, normal scissors or something won’t work either. No one will be able to take them off except for me. I can adjust them, too, if you need.”

“No, it’s…it’s a perfect fit.” He looked at it incredulously for a moment longer, then turned back to her, “Thank you.”

The other three picked them up then, each thanking her and sliding them onto their wrists. The leather wriggled into place, and Hermione let out a small sigh of relief. Another protection. She would use as many as it took, she wasn’t going to lose anyone else.


	10. June 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

She had spent all day yesterday with Kei learning how to introduce herself and say basic things in Japanese. And answering his questions about the magical world, of course. Nonetheless, she was still nervous about going to school with him. He’d laughed his head off when she’d explained that she knew practically nothing about any of the subjects he took, regardless of the language the courses were taught in.

She was beginning to agree with Ron and Harry. She was insane to have actually wanted to do this. 

The doorbell rang. 

“You ready?” Kei was standing at the door, smirking at her. His headphones were around his neck, which Hermione had quickly come to realize was their default position. 

“As ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose." It felt odd to be in a muggle uniform after wearing robes to classes for years. She picked up the bag with her new schoolbooks and notebook (which the Tsukishimas still wouldn’t let her pay them back for) and followed her cousin out the door, calling out “Ittekimasu” before the door shut. 

A boy who was shorter than Kei, but still fairly tall, greeted Kei, then turned to her nervously. “Hello! I’m.. eto… Tadashi Yamaguchi.” He stuck out his hand. It was shaking slightly. “You’re Tsukki’s cousin, right?”

“Yes. I’m Hermione Granger.” She shook his hand and smiled disarmingly. He reminded her a little of Neville, so far. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise!” He gave her a bright grin as they began walking toward the school. “I am not good at English,” he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, “gomen.”

“It will give me a good reason to learn Japanese.” She spoke a bit more slowly than usual, and he seemed to have understood her because he grinned again and nodded.

They walked down the road quietly after that, Yamaguchi would occasionally say something to Kei, and he sometimes responded, but for the most part the three of them enjoyed the silence. The pleasant walk, however, was soon ended by the looming presence of their school building. 

“This way.” She stayed glued to Kei’s side, trying her best to ignore all of the stares. When they got to the classroom Kei went with her to introduce her to the teacher, speaking quietly to him in Japanese. 

“This is Yamamoto-sensei. He’s our homeroom teacher.” 

Hermione bowed like Kei had told her, then said, “Watashi wa Granger, Hermione, desu. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.” The man beamed at her, then nodded a few times before turning back to his desk. Hermione looked back to Kei in confusion.

“Since you don’t know any Japanese, sensei said I could introduce you at the beginning of class.”

Thank Merlin. She was sure she had butchered her pronunciation just now. “Arigatou, Kei-kun.” 

He nodded, “Come on, the seat behind mine was empty, so you can sit there.” 

Class would soon start, so Hermione pulled out her notebook and pencil. It felt odd writing with something other than a quill, but at least she’d kept using them over the summer with her parents. 

When class started, the sensei made a brief speech, then every eye turned to look at her. Apparently this was the introduction time? Kei sighed in front of her. “Stand up with me.” She immediately did so and was relieved when the attention shifted to include Kei, as well. 

He rattled off something in Japanese, but the only words she understood were her first and last name. She really needed to get better fast. When Kei began to sit back down, she followed suit, a chorus of “yoroshiku’s” accompanying them. 

As the lesson got underway, Hermione quickly gave up on understanding sentences and just focused on jotting down the occasional word, along with what she suspected was its English equivalent. 

At the first break, Hermione tapped Kei on the shoulder. He turned around, then snorted when he saw her list.

“Some of these are right.”

“Oh, hush.” She glared at him, ignoring the people watching them with curiosity. “How many did I get wrong?”

“About 50%.” 

Her head hit the desk. “Kei-kun….” She looked back up at him, “this is ridiculous.”

“You’re the one that wanted to do it.” He picked up the pencil and began crossing through her English words, writing neat corrections. Occasionally his hand drifted over to the Japanese, correcting her romaji. 

“There.” He twirled the notepad back around as the next teacher walked in the room. “Want to see if you can make higher than a 50 this time?”

“Shut up.”

He snickered and turned back around. 

After the morning classes had finished, Kei declared that she had indeed made better than a 50, but only barely. His teasing didn’t last for long, though, as Yamaguchi came into the room, three other people in tow. Kei sighed.

“Hermione-san, meet my fellow first-years on the volleyball team. They usually eat lunch in here.” The group began sitting as he introduced them, “Hinata-san,” he pointed at the redhead, “and Kageyama-san,” the taller one, “are failing English, so don’t even bother.”

“Kei-kun! That’s not nice.”

“Do they look like they understand us right now?”

She glanced at their blank faces, “It’s still not nice.” 

He shrugged, then gestured to the girl in the group, “This is Yachi-san. She’s in the advanced class, so she probably knows some English.” 

“Nice to meet you! I…umm…help the team with…eto….notes and exercises.”

Hermione was still a bit confused. Quidditch teams didn’t have anyone like that…she nodded politely. Kei sighed. “She’s the team’s assistant manager.” Hermione looked at him blankly. He smirked, “You’re so clueless with normal things.”

“Shut up Kei-kun.” He just shook his head and said something to the others in Japanese. 

Whatever it was made the girl brighten enthusiastically, even if the boys, especially the redhead, were dismayed.

“I didn’t like sports either!” Ah. So that had been his explanation for her confusion. At least it was accurate, even if it wasn’t entirely truthful. Yachi kept talking, “I wanted to join a club, though. And Shimizu-senpai and Hinata-san asked me to help the team.” Yachi-san began unpacking her bento, ignoring whatever the redhead was complaining about. “Do you like a club?”

Yes, the D.A. Which wasn’t an answer she could give here. Hermione mentally sighed. “I mostly read, though I did start an... animal’s rights group for a bit.” Kei was smirking at her again, the brat. He was enjoying her awkwardness way too much.

“I don’t think we have that here…” she switched to Japanese to ask the boys something, but they shook their heads. “Sorry. Our library is nice, but…” she winced, “most books are in Japanese. Gomen nasai.”

Hermione shook her head, “It will be good practice.” At that the conversation began flowing around her in Japanese, with Yachi occasionally translating for her. Kei and Kageyama were quiet for the most part. Hermione was starting to get the feeling that they met in Kei’s classroom for lunch because the others all knew that her independent cousin would never willingly go to them. She sighed. At least he had good friends that didn’t appear to mind it, especially Yamaguchi. 

While they talked, Hermione decided to study her list of words, and it wasn’t too long before the next subject started and she was once again struggling to understand anything.

When the last bell rang, Hermione sagged in her seat. A few people had come up to talk to her throughout the day, but, after receiving blank stares once they got past the introduction, they had quickly smiled and wandered off. Apparently a foreign student who couldn’t talk to anyone wasn’t that interesting. 

“I have practice now. If you want to come you can, you could always read or help Yachi-san and Shimizu-san.”

Hermione sighed. Athletic practice was hardly an ideal way to spend her time but interacting with people would help her learn the language. “I might as well come and help.”

She gathered everything into her bag and followed him down the hallway. He pointed the gym out to her, then headed over to their club room to change. Hermione tentatively poked her head inside. There were a bunch of guys she didn’t recognize, along with an older girl and a man who was clearly the coach. None of the first years. 

She was going to strangle Kei.

“Ano…Sumimasen.” 

The few students nearby turned to look at her. “Watashi-wa Kei-kun” blank stares, “gomen, Tsukishima-san no itoko.” There were a few nods, but she had no clue what to say now. How did she say that Kei had told her to come watch practice? They were all staring at her. “Eto…watashi wa Granger Hermione desu.”

“Granger-san!” Thank Merlin. She turned around to see Yachi approaching with the two who apparently knew no English.

“Why are you here?”

“Kei-kun told me I could watch practice or maybe help you.” Hermione fidgeted. “There’s no one at home, so…”

“Of course!” She smiled brightly at her, then looked toward the surrounding boys, only a few of whom looked like they had understood anything being said. Yachi said something in Japanese, Hermione assumed to explain her presence, and the boys nodded, then went about their business while the other girl approached them. 

Yachi turned to her, “Don’t mind the team. Or the coach. They look scary, but they are all nice.” Hermione blinked. They looked scary…? She glanced over the team again. None of them particularly looked scary to her, but she had fought in a war… she decided to just smile and nod at Yachi. 

“Hello.” The other girl smiled at her. “I’m Shimizu Kiyoko. Nice to meet you, Granger-san.” Hermione was immediately glad that at least both the other girls spoke some English. “We take notes on the team and help the coach. Yachi said you wanted to help?” Hermione nodded. If Kei liked the sport, she might as well try to learn about it. And Akiteru seemed to like it, too. 

“Yes, though---” 

“EH?!” Hermione looked over to see that two new boys had entered, one was short and the other with a shaved head. The latter one was pointing at her. He said something, but Kei quickly responded sharply, which then resulted in another shout of surprise. 

“They don’t believe that you’re related to Tsukishima-san.”

Hermione turned back to Shimizu, confused. “Why?”

“You are cute.”

“What?” That did not make any sense. 

The girl laughed quietly. “They are silly, but nice. They flirt a lot. Tsukishima-san does not want them to flirt with you.”

“Thank you for translating.” Hermione shook her head. Apparently boys would always be stupid with girls, no matter the country.

“If you do not want them to flirt, ignore them. I do that.” Hermione thanked her. It wouldn’t be too hard to ignore them since she wouldn’t know what they were saying, but it was nice to know that ignoring their flirting wouldn’t be seen as rude. 

“You know no Japanese, right?”

“Nothing. Kei-kun is trying to teach me, but it will take a while.” No matter how smart she was, learning a language would take a long time.

“Is it hard to be here?”

“Because I don’t know Japanese?” Shimizu nodded.

“A bit. It helps that I have relatives who can translate for me.” 

“Takeda-sensei can help. He knows English. He is our advisor.” Shimizu smiled at her, “Do you want to meet the coach?”

“That would be great, thanks.” Shimizu began walking toward the man with blonde hair. “Kei-kun’s not the best at social niceties.” 

Shimizu frowned and looked back at her, “Niceties?” 

“Uh… the things you do to be polite.”

“I see. Thank you.” She stopped when they reached the blonde man she had previously assumed was the coach. He looked up from his clipboard and said something in Japanese, to which Shimizu responded. Hermione caught her name, but again, nothing else. She sighed.

He looked at her and rubbed the back of his head. “I am Ukai Keishin. Uh… My English is bad.” He winced. “Gomen.” He glanced at Shimizu and said something in Japanese. 

“He says it’s nice to meet you and thank you for the help.”

“Would you let him know I’m happy to help and thank him for letting me be here after school?”

Shimizu nodded and relayed the message in Japanese. The coach grinned at her and nodded, said something in Japanese to Shimizu, and then returned to looking at his clipboard. 

“You do not know Volleyball, right?”

“Yes…I don’t know anything about sports, really.”

“That is fine. Everyone here will help.” Shimizu smiled at her, “Have you met everyone?”

Hermione shook her head. “Just the first years.”

“I’ll introduce you.” Shimizu took her around to each of the older guys, most of whom looked intimidated at the prospect of trying to speak English with her. She still couldn’t understand why Yachi was scared of these boys. Ennoshita, Sugawara, and Sawamura were at least willing to try to talk with her, which was nice. The one named Nishinoya had just jumped around and yelled “awesome,” then shook her hand really hard. Shimizu told her he was one of the flirtatious ones, so apparently she would be ignoring him a lot. 

Practice went smoothly after that. Since she knew absolutely nothing about the sport, Hermione was given the job of collecting all the spare balls and putting them in the bin, which was apparently an ever-present task during practice. 

She was glad when it ended. 

The walk home was a quiet affair—Kei had his headphones on and Yamaguchi seemed content to walk next to the two of them in silence. Not for the first time that day, Hermione wondered about their friendship. The two seemed completely different at times, yet had obviously been friends for a long time. 

When they got home, Kei spoke up quietly. “I heard you talking with Shimizu-san.” 

Hermione blinked. “When?” She had honestly no clue what her cousin might want to talk about.

“At the beginning of practice. She said the guys liked to flirt and you….” He paused, frowning. “You didn’t seem bothered by it. Do you want them to flirt with you? I can back off…”

Ah. Kei thought he’d done something wrong. It was sweet, but… “Play the overprotective cousin all you want, Kei-kun. I’m not interested in any of them.” She shrugged, “It’s not like I can understand what they’re saying, or I would discourage them myself.”

“Oh.” He seemed relieved, but then he steeled himself and added, “If that changes…”

“It won’t.” None of them was her soulmate, after all, and that was the only person she’d date besides Ron.

His brow furrowed, “How can you be so sure?”

“Witches and wizards have soulmates, Kei-kun.”

“You’re joking.”

“No, though I thought it was a bunch of lies at first, too. To be honest I’m still figuring out the details, but I do know that none of the boys on your team are my soulmate.” 

He shook his head incredulously, “The more I learn about magic, the more bizarre it gets.” 

“Well it _is_ magic. It’s not supposed to be logical, as infuriating as that can be sometimes.”

Hermione laughed at his annoyed expression, then went upstairs to talk to Harry and Ron before dinner.


	11. July 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

July 1

Bellatrix was holding her down again, carving that horrid word into her arm. The curse pulsed in her veins, the feeling of a cruciatus concentrated on her arm as she writhed, screaming. 

Bellatrix was calling her name, mocking her, but suddenly the voice didn’t sound so mocking, more urgent, like Ron calling her name in the background. Her shoulders were shaking from the curse. No, not from the curse, from something else. 

Her eyes shot open and her wand was in her hand a second later, pointing straight and steady at the figure sprawled on the carpet. Kei. 

She quickly lowered her wand. 

She had fallen asleep in the living room. Hermione remembered feeling tired after school, and that she’d come home instead of to Kei’s practice. She’d turned on the TV to distract herself from the memories, then… nothing. “Gomen.”

He shifted to a sitting position, gingerly rubbing his shoulder. “No harm done. You surprised me, is all.”

“Are you sure?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yes.”

“Kei-kun…” it was dangerous to wake her up like that, especially if the other person didn’t have a wand, but… she couldn’t just tell him not to wake her up if he saw her having a nightmare. He was her cousin. “You know where my wand holster is, right?”

“Yes, your right arm, below your wrist.” His eyes flicked down to her arms, then widened, focusing on her left one. Hermione quickly covered it. The glamour must have come undone while she slept. It did that sometimes. He stared at her, but didn’t say anything. Hermione decided to continue talking as if he hadn’t seen the scar. As if he hadn’t seen the word mudblood cut into her skin. 

“If you ever have to wake me up again, and I’m like that, take my wand away first. I almost hurt you.”

He was still staring at her, but apparently he decided to humor her. For now. “How do I do that?” 

“Pull my right wrist back. It will release automatically. Then you can wake me up.” She sat down on the couch, her adrenalin fading. “I still might hit you, I suppose, but you can probably take that.” She gave him a tired grin. 

“It happens often, doesn’t it?” Hermione looked at the ground. She hadn’t meant to reveal that to them. Her aunt was already aghast at the fact that she had seen such violence, but if she knew that she had nightmares almost every day, that she’d been tortured… This family didn’t know war. She wanted to escape it here, not drag it here with her. 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.” She spoke sharply, then sighed. He just wanted to help. Giving him a little bit of information wouldn’t hurt her. “We were captured once. You can probably figure that much out from my arm.” She let her right arm drop, revealing the scar again. “That’s usually what the dreams are about. Though sometimes it’s people dying. Or…other things.” Like Voldemort returning because they’d missed a horcrux. 

“You…” Kei paused, then let out a frustrated growl. “I suck at things like this.”

Hermione smiled at her cousin. “You help. Just being here helps. Doing normal things. Not thinking about the terror… It helps.”

Kei was still watching her closely, gauging whether or not she was being honest. Hermione let him, taking the time to reapply the glamour on her arm and neck, though he apparently hadn’t noticed that one, as his eyes widened again right before it disappeared. 

They sat in silence for a few minutes, then Kei spoke again. “I like that you call me Kei-kun.” Hermione blinked, she honestly didn’t know what else she should be calling him, but she was glad he was ok with it. “Hermione-san feels awkward, though. Too formal. You live with me. We know…private things about each other.” He sighed, “Can I call you Hermione-neesan?”

“Whatever you want, Kei-kun, but…umm… isn’t neesan for sisters?”

“You’re family and living with me.” He shrugged, “You’re practically a sister at the moment.” 

Hermione smiled at that. She’d never had siblings, but now… She had the Weasleys. And Harry. And Kei. It was a nice feeling. “Thank you, Kei-kun.”

He gave her a confused look, then shook his head, apparently accepting her response as yet another example of her weirdness. “Try to get some rest, Hermione-neesan. I’ll wake you up when dinner is ready, and yes, I’ll take your wand first.” She laughed softly, then headed toward the stairs. 

Siblings were nice.


	12. July 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

Hermione had fallen into a comfortable routine in the Tsukishima household. She would eat breakfast with the family, go to school with Kei, round up the loose volleyballs during his practice, then study Japanese or read books for the evening, taking breaks to call Harry and Ron as well as whenever her aunt announced it was dinner time. 

She’d only skipped practice that once, and she hadn’t risked being alone since then. Today however, was a practice match, so there wasn’t really anything she could do to help the team. Instead, she was sitting up on the bleachers, reading. After her argument with Ron she had set aside the book on soulbonds, not wanting to think about them, but she really should finish it, and this was as good an opportunity as any. Of course, to anyone else it would simply look like she was reading Watership Down. 

She gently bent the book open to where she’d left her bookmark.

_Because marriage bonds are a variation of the soulmate bond, and one can only make one such bond in one’s lifetime, an individual’s magic automatically senses the magic of a married person as being unsuited to them. This is why Pureblood families in some countries like Britain have always sought to marry their heirs at the youngest possible age, Namely, right after their magic reaches maturity and is able to make and accept such a bond. Such families oppose the bonds particularly because soulbonds care only about the magic of the two individuals, not their blood status or gender. Thus, a soulbonded pair might be biologically unable to produce a pureblooded heir, or any heir at all. Of course, because the marriage bond is so similar to the soulbond, if the two partners are, in fact, soulmates, the incantation for the marriage bond will result in a soulbond._

That must be what had happened with Molly and Arthur Weasley, since both Ginny and Ron had said that their parents were soulbonded. Even if they knew in advance thanks to the identification spell, that spell hadn’t triggered the bond for Ginny, which meant the bond would remain inactive until marriage.

_The Beginnings of the Bond_

_Regardless of how the bond forms, once it forms the same steps will occur._

_1) Your magic will be attracted to its match, and many have stated that they felt a constant ‘pull’ of sorts toward their partner. Of course, the strength of this pull would depend on the strength of the witch or wizard involved. The tugging sensation will continue until the two magics connect through the acceptance of the bond. This can occur with something as simple as a kiss, so those whose bonds form during a wedding ceremony often do not notice this stage of the bond._  
_2) Regardless of whether or not the bond has been accepted, from its first appearance it will begin to manifest itself. This can occur in many different ways: shared pain, emotions, thoughts, memories, or dreams, the ability to merge their magic, the knowledge of each other’s location, etc. These abilities often manifest over a period of months and are hampered by great distances. Usually couples exhibit merely one of the abilities; however, there are some rare cases in which couples have received two or three abilities, or, even more rarely, more than two._  
_3) After the bond has been accepted, one’s magic will reject any romantic affection given or received by someone other than the bonded person. As a result, they will often experience pain, the degree of which depends upon the infraction and the magical str—_

“Hermione-neesan.” 

Hermione looked up from her chapter to see Kei in front of her. The match must have just ended. “Is it a good book?”

“Informative, at least.” She hadn’t known about the abilities at all, for starters. She wondered what ability the Weasleys had, and which one Harry and Ginny would have. “Was the match good?”

He drank a swig from the water bottle, then set it down to answer her. “We won.”

“That doesn’t mean it was good.”

“True.” He shrugged. “It wasn’t bad.”

“I would hit you, but you’re covered in sweat.” She wrinkled her nose. “Go take a shower and change so we can go home.”

“Hai, hai.” He jumped off the bleachers, then headed toward the showers. Hermione watched him go for a few seconds, then slid her book back into her bag. She might as well at least help Yachi and Shimizu clean up.

When Kei came back, Yamaguchi was trailing behind him. Kei slipped his headphones on and the three of them fell into step together.

“Yamaguchi-san, when did you and Kei-kun become friends?”

He looked at her, startled. Usually she was willing to let the two have their companionable silence, but the question had been bothering her for a while, now.

“Eto..elementary school? Tsukki stopped some mean guys. They were our age, but he was taller, so they ran.”

“Really? Kei-kun’s not exactly the heroic type.”

“Ano….” Yamaguchi rubbed the back of his head, “He said they were pathetic. One of his comments, you know?”

Hermione nodded. That made far more sense. Kei could be very blunt and cynical.

“After that I um… stayed with him. Joined volleyball.”

“And became friends?”

He nodded. “Tsukki is nice, but he…hides?”

“I can hear you, you know.”

Hermione turned around to see Kei glaring at them. She laughed. Yamaguchi gave his friend a shy grin, “Gomen, Tsukki. But it’s true.”

“Tch. Whatever.”

By then they had reached the Tsukishima’s house, so Yamaguchi just waved goodbye and jogged off toward his own home. 

“Tadaima.” Hermione took off her shoes by the door, then put her bag down. “I’m going to go talk to Harry and Ron before dinner, ok?”

Kei shrugged, but she was already heading upstairs. 

She pulled the mirror out of her pocket and flopped onto her bed. She tapped it, then called Harry’s name. 

It took a couple seconds, but he appeared. He was in Hogwarts somewhere, judging by the background. “Evening Hermione!” She rolled her eyes.

“Morning, Harry. Why are you at Hogwarts so early?”

“I wanted to show you something.” He disappeared from the mirror’s frame and the image was blurry as he moved it around, but then it settled on what was clearly the Great Hall. The Great Hall with four tables and all the banners back in place.

“That’s wonderful, Harry.”

The image spun again. “Took us all week, but we did it. We’re learning all sorts of new spells for the construction. We’ll have to teach them to you when you get back.”

“I’d like that.”

The mirror moved again as Harry sat down at one of the tables. “We miss you, Hermione. It’s weird being apart this long.”

“It is weird, and I miss you all, too, but…”

“You’re happy.”

“Yes. Kei said I was like his sister last week. I know I’m like a sister to you guys, too…”

“But it’s nice to have actual relatives that like you.” Hermione winced. She hadn’t meant to remind him of his own relatives. 

“I’m sorry, Harry.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault the Dursleys are gits. Spend time with your family, Hermione. We don’t want to take that from you.”

“Thank you.”

“Oi!” She could hear Ron’s voice in the background. “Did you show it to her without me?”

“That’s what you get for leaving to go to the kitchens.”

“I was hungry!” Ron’s face appeared on the screen. “Sorry ‘Mione, but he had to leave before Mum finished making breakfast.”

“Did you bring me anything?”

“No.” Ron pulled the pieces of bread closer to him. “Serves you right for showing her without me. I worked hard on that, I did.”

“Of course you did, Ron. I told her we all did.” Harry reached around and nicked a piece of bread. “Thank you.” Ron stuck his tongue out at Harry, then turned to her.

“Evening to you ‘Mione. How was your day?”

She shrugged. “Quite boring, actually. Kei-kun had a practice match, so I just read while they played the team from another school.”

“Any wizards?”

“How should I know Ronald? Since witches and wizards live side by side with muggles, here, they blend in much better. And I’m hardly going to go up and ask them all.”

“You could just say your name. They’d probably react to that if they’re wizards.” Harry grinned at her, clearly amused at the idea.

“Very funny, Harry.” She rolled her eyes, “I didn’t even say anything to them, if you must know.”

“Oh.” Ron finished off a bagel, “I guess you wouldn’t know if they were, then.”

“No, I wouldn’t. Why do you want to know anyway? It’s not like it matters.”

Ron fidgeted in his chair. “We said we’d look, right? For our soulmates. And the wizards there would understand your muggle stuff in ways that I can’t…”

Hermione’s stomach turned at the thought. “If I meet him, I meet him. Same for you with whoever your partner is. Did you know that gender doesn’t matter?”

“Oh Merlin.” Ron’s head hit the table. “It doesn’t matter overall, but I’m attracted to girls, Hermione. Not boys. That kinda thing is taken into account.”

She grinned, “I know. I just wanted to see what your reaction would be.” And change the topic off of her soulmate, which had worked.

“Jeez, Hermione. There’s no need for that.” He paused, “I’m pretty sure Charlie’s gay, you know? Just waiting to tell Mum until after Bill has a kid so she’s not as upset about it.”

“Really? I didn’t know. It makes sense, though I wish he didn’t feel like he had to wait to tell us.” 

There was a knock on her door, so Hermione turned around. “Yes?”

“Dinner’s ready, Hermione-neesan.”

“Alright, be down in a minute.” She turned back to the mirror, “Sorry boys, I’m afraid I’ll have to cut it short tonight. The Great Hall does look lovely, though. Thank you for showing me.”

“No problem, Hermione.” Harry gave her a final wave. “Have a good dinner.” The connection cut off. 

Hermione headed downstairs and was surprised to see the other three already at the table.

“Gomen! I didn’t mean to make you wait.” She hurried to her seat.

They ate in silence in a comfortable silence, but Kei started fidgeting toward the end of the meal and glancing at her occasionally. Finally, she just turned and stared at him. “What is it, Kei-kun?”

“Gomen.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s just, the week after school ends the team is doing a summer training camp with some teams from Tokyo. Coach Ukai’s been wanting to know if you’ll go with us, since extra hands are always nice during the free practice.”

Hermione blinked. “Tokyo?” She looked toward her aunt and uncle.

“Whatever you want, dear. We’ll be fine here.”

That was true. There hadn’t been any sign of a witch or wizard anywhere in the city, much less near her relatives’ home.

“I guess I can go, then. It would be nice to see another part of the country.”

“We’ll just be at a school. You won’t see much.”

Hermione shrugged. “That’s fine. I’ll still see some on the way.” She paused, “Unless you don’t want me to go?”

“No,” he shook his head. “I just know you don’t like to be alone, but if you didn’t want to come…” she’d have been alone with her thoughts during the day. Hermione smiled at her cousin.

“Thanks for thinking of me, Kei-kun. You can let Coach Ukai know that I’ll go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo appears in the next chapter! About time, right? Sorry, I wanted her to have bonding time with Tsukki first. 
> 
> Heads up, the chapters are about to start getting a lot longer.


	13. July 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And Kuroo finally enters the picture :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

Hermione had never actually been on a school bus, and she quickly discovered that she could have gone her entire life without riding one and she would have been better off. It was cramped, smelly, and loud, with the boys constantly jabbering about something or singing (could it really be called that, though?) along to their music. 

Kei sat next to her, staring out the window with his headphones on. Hinata was across the aisle blathering rapidly about something, and Yamaguchi kept looking back at her from further up when he thought she wasn’t looking. Something told her that this was typically his seat, but now he was sitting next to Tanaka, and he didn’t look too thrilled about it. The older boy was draped across poor Yamaguchi’s lap and snoring loudly.

The bus rolled to a stop and Hermione sighed in relief. Her book had been interesting, but she had finished it an hour ago and couldn’t pull out a new one from her small bag without raising suspicions. 

All the boys bounded off of the bus and were running toward some others that were milling around the side of the school, so Hermione followed suit, albeit more slowly. Kei trudged along behind her. 

One of them had the oddest black hair, and she was just trying to figure out what it looked like when he glanced toward her. 

She froze. 

Her entire body felt warm all over, but not like she had a fever, more like she was just wrapped in a warm blanket. For a second she couldn’t breathe--sharp, swift pinpricks rattled against her skin. It felt like all of the magic within her was suddenly twisting, tumbling, urging her to walk toward the group in black t-shirts, in particular the one with odd black hair. 

A soulbond.

“Bloody hell.” 

Kei’s head snapped to look at her, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the boy from the other team. Her soulmate. She swallowed. So she wouldn’t be dating Ron later, after all. It sickened her that the very thought of dating Ron was already somewhat abhorrent to her mind. 

The new boy was staring back at her, a slow smirk spreading across his face.

“Hermione-neesan, what is it?” Kei’s voice was urgent. 

The other boy was beginning to walk toward her. Hermione took a deep, steadying breath.

“You know how I explained how people from…my school…ah…dated?” She glanced at him briefly enough to see his eyes widen, then she turned back to the approaching figure.

The figure waved when he saw them both looking. “Oi! Tsukki!”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

Despite her cousin’s reaction, Hermione was slightly comforted by the fact that her soulmate was apparently close enough with her prickly cousin to call him by his nickname. The boy soon came to a stop in front of them, hazel eyes firmly fixed on her. 

“Care to introduce us, Tsukki?” English. Hermione appreciated it and was glad to know that they would be able to talk. 

“Hell no.”

The boy just laughed, completely unfazed. He held out his hand. “Kuroo Tetsurou, third year captain of the Nekoma team.” Captain? That was good to hear.

She shook his hand and tried to ignore the feeling of absolute right-ness that filled her. “Granger Hermione.” 

His eyes immediately widened. Darn Harry for being right. The boy—Kuroo—knew her name. “Is that so?” He paused, then added, “You’re far away from home.”

“Kei-kun is my cousin. I’m spending time with some family after all that happened.” Her eyes narrowed briefly, “I’d prefer to keep my location secret, though.”

“No problem with that here,” he raised his hands in defense, “I’d rather keep you to myself.”

“I can’t tell him to fuck off, can I?”

As much as it might make things simpler… “No, Kei-kun.” She could already feel her magic pulling her toward Kuroo. Her cousin groaned as the older boy smirked at him.

“There, there, Tsukki. This just means we'll always be able to hang out.” His smirk had an amused edge.

Another groan. Hermione ignored her cousin’s displeasure. “You…um, you speak English well. I’ve noticed that a few people know some, but most won’t try.”

“There aren’t many of us here in Japan, you know?” She assumed he meant wizards, so she nodded. “We often end up taking jobs abroad, at least for a bit, so most of us are bilingual. And English is already taught in schools, so…” he shrugged. “It’s the easiest.”

Kei was looking between them with annoyance. “Is there anyone else here that will be surprisingly good at English?”

Kuroo laughed, “Yeah, there are two others.” He scanned the crowd, but paused when he saw Hermione stiffen. “They’re friends. They won’t say anything.”

“I can’t deal with this right now.” Hermione thought Kei was being a tad melodramatic, but she didn’t complain as he grabbed her and began to pull her away. Her brain felt numb from shock.

“Save a chair for me at lunch, alright, love?” Kuroo called after her, and she barely had time to process the nickname, much less nod, before Kei had pulled her around a corner, dragging her suitcase after her. 

She almost ran into Kei when he stopped abruptly, then turned around. “You’re sure it’s him?”

“It’s not exactly a mistakable feeling.”

Kei just stared at her, then started snickering. “Kuroo Tetsurou. Have fun with that.”

Hermione kicked his leg, but he just laughed harder. “What’s so ridiculous about it?”

Kei shook his head, then started walking again. “No way am I getting involved in this. Way too much drama. You’ll just have to get to know him on your own.” He slipped his headphones on, ending the conversation, and Hermione hurried after him. They soon ran into a few of the others from Karasuno, including Shimizu. 

“There you are. Coach Ukai asked me to show you where our room is. The boys are about to change for the match.” She shooed Kei away, “We’re this way, follow me.” 

Hermione followed her quietly, a multitude of thoughts whirling around her head.

Her soulmate was here. In Japan. 

Ron had been right. 

She set down her suitcase, not really listening to Shimizu whenever the girl said anything. Finally, she noticed her calling her name. “Gomen. I… I need to call someone. I’ll meet you in the gym in a few minutes?”

Shimizu gave her a worried look but nodded. After she left Hermione warded the door, despite feeling a bit guilty about essentially locking the other two girls out. She needed the privacy to talk to Harry, though---mirrors weren’t exactly a normal method of communication.

She pulled it out and tapped on the screen, “Harry.”

Immediately she saw his face. “Hermione? What’s wrong?” Her eyes narrowed. It was the middle of the night there, so that quick a response meant that Harry was probably avoiding sleep due to nightmares. He needed dreamless sleep. She shook her head. She couldn’t get that for him right now. She wasn’t there. She was in Japan. In Japan with her soulmate. “Hermione, please say something. You’re worrying me.”

“I don’t know what to do, Harry.” She sat down on her trunk with a thump.

“Ok… should I get Ron? Ginny?” She shook her head. 

“Promise not to laugh?”

That at least stopped his panic. He looked at her, confused, then nodded.

“I found him, Harry.”

“Found who?”

“My soulmate.”

Harry stared at her in surprise, then confusion, “That’s a good thing, though, right?”

“I guess.”

“You thought you’d never find him, didn’t you.” Harry sighed. “Ron’s over here determined that your soulmate’s alive and most likely in Japan, and apparently right about both of those, and you thought he probably died in the war like so many others.”

Hermione nodded. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Get to know him, I would think.” 

“He’s friends with Kei-kun.”

“That’s good, right?” She nodded.

“Sorry, Harry. I think I’m just in shock.” She laughed nervously. “It’s supposed to be more common in countries like Japan, you know. Where they have apprenticeships and don’t all know each other before they reach majority. I knew that was true, but…” her eyes sought out Harry’s, “I didn’t think I would ever find mine.”

“It’ll be ok, Hermione. Just get to know him.” He paused looking over his shoulder at Ron’s snoring form. “Do you want me to tell Ron?”

“No, no, I should do that.” She took a deep breath, “Thank you, Harry.”

“Any time, Hermione.” He grinned at her, “Can’t wait to meet him.”

“I should go. They’re expecting me at the gym.” She paused, then frowned at him. “Get some sleep, alright?”

Harry rolled his eyes, “Yes, Hermione.” His image vanished. 

Hermione exited the room, then followed the noises to find the gym. She quickly found the Karasuno team and saw Shimizu filling water bottles, so she went over to do the same. “Sorry about that, I’m good now. Just had to check on something back home.”

Her eyes travelled across the gym, to where Kuroo was leading his team in stretches. She swallowed. She could certainly appreciate his athletic form. Then again, she’d only ever dated athletes, so perhaps her soulmate’s athletic nature shouldn’t be a surprise. 

Shimizu cleared her throat, causing Hermione looked down to notice that the water bottle in her hands was overflowing. She quickly put it down and secured the cap, blushing. 

“See someone you like?” Hermione’s blush deepened and Shimizu grinned. 

“Who is it? You never looked twice at any of the Karasuno boys.” Hermione groaned. This was going to be a long week. “You looked at Nekoma…Kuroo-san? The captain?” She grinned victoriously at Hermione’s deepening blush.

“Well, he is quite handsome…” Hermione tried to defend herself by coming up with some reason that wasn’t as shallow, “and Kei-kun seems friendly with him, which is rare.”

“Kuroo-san helped teach Tsukishima-san how to block, last time we were here.”

He taught Kei? Well that explained Kei’s reaction a little bit, she supposed. “That was nice of him.” 

Shimizu just smiled and grabbed the next water bottle, “Already falling hard, hmmm?” 

Yachi came bounding over, and Shimizu was quick to spill the beans. “Granger-san has a crush on Kuroo-san.”

“Eh?!” Yachi looked at her, startled.

“One of these days, Shimizu-san, I’m going to figure out who you like and I’ll never let you forget it.” 

Shimizu laughed, “Please. I’m not obvious about it.” She grinned as the Nekoma team began making its way across the gym toward them. “Lucky. We play Nekoma first.” Hermione groaned, turning bright red as she once again caught Kuroo’s eye. He smirked at her. 

The match soon began, and Kuroo definitely was riling up Kei. Hermione knew exactly how he was managing it, too. Apparently her soulmate was mischievous. 

And good.

It quickly became apparent that he was captain not only because the team followed him, but also because he was a very good defender. No wonder he had felt perfectly comfortable teaching someone from an opposing team. 

More than once he caught her watching him, and each time he smirked. The small setter seemed to have noticed and kept giving them peculiar looks, but thankfully everyone else seemed oblivious. Whatever Kuroo was saying to Kei, it must be vague or in English. 

It felt like forever before the match ended, but finally it was time for lunch. She quickly packed up her team’s supplies so that they would be ready for the next match, then followed Shimizu and Yachi to the cafeteria, trying desperately to avoid Shimizu’s teasing remarks.

When they reached the cafeteria, Hermione was disappointed to see that Kuroo wasn’t there yet. Maybe he’d gone to shower? The Karasuno team certainly hadn’t bothered, but she’d appreciate it if he had. 

Hermione grabbed some food from the line and was about to leave, then on second thought grabbed a dessert. She didn’t normally like sweet things, but she felt more tired than usual and some sugar might kick that from her system for a bit.

Kei was sitting at the end of the Karasuno table, so she went to join him. Whenever Kuroo showed up, there would hopefully be a spot left for him. Shimizu smirked knowingly at her from where she was sitting with the other girls, but Yachi just waved.

“Good match.”

Kei scoffed.

“Well, I thought it was, at least.”

“We lost by a wide margin.” 

Hermione was about to retort when her eyes snapped toward the door. Seconds later Kuroo entered. She smiled as a warm feeling spread throughout her body. Kei sighed next to her. “Try to contain the weirdness, Hermione-neesan.”

Hermione blushed and looked down. She hadn’t been able to help it. She had just felt this sudden pull toward the door, as if she should be there instead of where she was, and then she had just felt so happy…

She looked back up, and Kuroo immediately met her eyes, smirk already plastered across his face. She wasn’t used to being around people who smirked. It was odd, but she appreciated that his smirk wasn’t like Malfoy’s malicious one. It was more…playful. Probably the kind of smirk Sirius Black had worn during school.

Kuroo slid into the seat across from her, tray laden with a ridiculous amount of food. She raised an eyebrow. He shrugged. “I spend a lot of energy. Got to get it back somehow.”

“Right.” Hermione let her doubt show in her voice, but all Kuroo did was smirk. 

“Favorite color?” Hermione stared at him. He shrugged. “I want to get to know you. Why not start with the classics?” 

That made sense, she supposed, but she didn’t really have a favorite color… “Red and gold.” Gryffindor colors were at least important to her. “Yours?”

“Red and black.” Hermione nodded. The colors on his jersey. “Favorite book?” 

Kuroo groaned. “You’re a bookworm, aren’t you?”

“Is there anything wrong with bookworms?” She couldn’t believe it. How could magic pair her with someone who hated books?

“Yes. I can feel my meagre finances depleting. Books are expensive.” Kuroo started shoveling food in his mouth, but at least he did it neatly and had yet to speak with his mouth full. 

Hermione shook her head, amused. She had never heard that reasoning before. “I promise I won’t buy books beyond our means, but I doubt it will be a problem.”

“Hmph. Speak for yourself, I’ve always planned on being a highschool science teacher and volleyball coach. That doesn’t exactly pay well.” No, but at least he’d thought about his future and had a plan, she could respect that. 

“Science?”

Kuroo paused for a second, then grinned after swallowing. “It’s fun. Especially chemistry and its equivalent, of course.” Potions, Hermione thought, and nodded. 

“Hey, hey, hey!” Hermione blinked as someone from another team sat down, pounding Kuroo’s shoulder before doing some sort of handshake with him. He had bright gold eyes and the oddest silver hair that seemed to defy gravity. 

Kei sighed next to her. “You aren’t welcome here, you overzealous owl.” Owl? Well it did fit, oddly. 

“Tsukki! I’m wounded!” The new arrival responded in English, then pretended to keel over on top of Kuroo, clutching his heart. Kuroo promptly shoved him onto the floor, laughing. “Kuroo, my best mate, my partner in crime, are you abandoning me? I’m dying here!”

This was Kuroo’s best friend? The black haired boy was just laughing, then hauled his friend up off the floor. “Behave, Bokuto. This is Tsukki’s cousin, Granger Hermione.” 

Bokuto froze at her name and just stared at her. “Granger? Like, from England? That Granger?”

“Yes.” She watched him carefully. He was obviously one of the two wizards Kuroo had mentioned. That would explain why they seemed so familiar with each other, despite being from different schools. Bokuto seemed friendly enough. 

Suddenly he jumped up. “Hey, hey, hey!” He gave a boisterous laugh. Hermione was surprised that no one was watching them with all the ruckus he was making, but apparently this was normal behavior for the…owl. “Who knew you had such an awesome cousin, Tsukki!” He laughed again, then hopped back down and began to shovel food into his mouth. Kuroo saw her disgusted look and laughed.

Another boy had sat down next to Bokuto, and his eyes turned toward her. “Akaashi Keiji. Yoroshiku. I’ve… heard good things about you.” The third wizard, then. Well, Harry was right about one thing. A famous name was helpful with figuring out if people knew about the magical world.

Kei looked between the three, aggravated. “Is there anyone else who has ‘heard of’ Hermione-neesan?”

Akaashi turned to Kuroo, “Has Kenma?”

“Eh, don’t think so. I gave him a heads up a few months ago when things were bad and some…not nice…. people were over here poking around, but that was it. Who knows what books he’s picked up though.”

Hermione frowned. “They came to Japan?” She hadn’t been aware that they had been recruiting this far away.

“Only for a week or so. They didn’t have much success, so they left.”

“That’s good.” She paused, then turned to Kuroo, confused. “You said there were three of you. Who’s Kenma?”

Bokuto burst out laughing, but Kuroo just scratched the back of his head. “Kenma’s my neighbor. And lay off, Bokuto. The kid’s damn smart. You try hiding something from him when you’re young and can’t really control things yet.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know. It’s still funny though.”

Kuroo continued, “He’s Nekoma’s setter. Been my best friend for as long as I can remember. He’s over there talking to Hinata right now.” He gestured vaguely towards the orange ball of energy. Sitting next to him was a boy with somewhat blonde hair who was playing a video game. “How the two of them are friends still confuses me.”

“Kuroo…” Bokuto whined, “I thought I was your bestest bud.” He clung to Kuro’s arm, though he was quickly shaken loose.

“Bro, we’ve been over this. I have Kenma and you have Akaashi.”

Hermione smiled at the friends, feeling a bit of homesickness wash over her. She missed everyone back home, but…her hand drifted to her left arm and she absentmindedly rubbed her scar. The escape from everything was nice.

Kei caught the movement and glared at her hand.

Hermione immediately stopped. “I’m fine, Kei-kun. Really.”

“Sure.” His voice was skeptical, but he stood up next to her. “I don’t want to deal with this weirdness, so I’m going back to the gym.” He nodded at Hermione. “See you in a bit.” He was about to slip on his headphones, but paused to glare at Kuroo. “Hurt her and you die.” With that lovely parting message, Kei picked up his tray and walked away.

Kuroo whistled. “Protective, huh? He knows you don’t need it, right?” He was leaning on one hand, watching her. “You could probably wipe the floor with all three of us.”

Hermione sighed. “Smarts and speed aren’t everything. You could easily…disable me. Kei-kun’s worried about other things, though.” Her hand clenched her left sleeve. She didn’t know when she’d started rubbing it, but she needed to stop. It clearly bothered Kei since he knew about the scar.

“I see.” Hermione looked up at him. Kuroo’s eyes were clouded, angry, but Hermione couldn’t figure out why. It’s not like he knew what had set Kei off. Yet he was looking at her arm, now. “You feel…sad or… frustrated, when you do that.” 

Hermione froze. He could tell her emotions? Already? The book had said it would happen over months…. 

“Tch.” Kuro stood up, “Come on Bokuto, I want to go demolish you on the court.”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Bokuto perked up. “I’m always ready for a match!” Kuroo reached over to grab her tray of empty dishes. “I assume you’re done?” Hermione nodded, a bit bewildered by all the emotions swirling in his eyes. Now that she thought about it, she could distantly feel his anger and confusion. She swallowed. 

“I’ll leave you with Akaashi. Save me a spot at dinner?” She nodded, and he stalked off, Bokuto bouncing beside him. The cafeteria was beginning to empty, most likely the athletes were all beginning to head out for the afternoon matches.

“Kuroo-san’s not good with emotions.” Hermione looked at the remaining boy. Akaashi. “He feels bad. We knew about what was going on in England, and were wary, but no one ever suggested Japan help, despite the fact that we were against him.” He shrugged. “We are too far away and don’t have much of an organized government.”

Hermione slowly nodded. “Honestly, we didn’t even think about asking you for help. I remember Dumbledore tried to negotiate for help from the communities in France and Bulgaria, but…” Hermione shrugged. Charlie had probably tried to get help from Romania, too, but no one in the Order had ties with Japan. 

“The tournament.” Hermione nodded. 

“We really just talked with the people we already knew. At least as far as I know.” 

“So, you aren’t angry with Japan?” 

Hermione shook her head, bewildered. “It was our problem.” 

“That’s good. Kuroo-san’s never handled it well when people are hurt unfairly, though.”

Hermione smiled softly. That was a good quality to have. “Thanks for letting me know.” 

Akaashi sighed and nodded. “I should probably go and track the two idiots down before they break something.” He gestured over to where Shimizu and Yachi were eating, well, had been eating. Now they were staring at them. Yachi waved. “I think they’re waiting for you, as well. It’s been nice talking with you, Granger-san.” 

Well. That had been interesting, certainly. 

“Granger-san!” Hermione walked toward Yachi who was still waving, “Help me in the kitchen, please? Shimizu-senpai can write the notes on the first match.”

Hermione sighed, but nodded. Kitchen duty offered much fewer opportunities for learning about her soulmate. There would be time for that later, though. Yachi led the way to the kitchen and positioned her by the drying rack before handing her a towel. 

The muggle method of cleaning was methodical and calming, but it let her thoughts drift, and none of the other girls were paying her any attention. It didn’t help that they had just been talking about the war. Hermione slipped into taking slow, deep breaths. She rubbed her arm, then forced herself to stop. She picked up the rag, remembering how many times she’d used to help her mother in the kitchen. 

Tears started to fill her eyes and she set the plate down. “Gomen. Restroom.” Hermione darted from the room, then headed to the empty classroom Tsukki had taken her to earlier. She set up the silencing ward and slid down against the wall. 

She missed them. She missed this world. She missed the small daily tasks. She missed the moments she’d taken for granted. 

A sob tore from her throat. 

She pulled the mirror from her pocket, only to shove it back in. She’d already woken Harry up once tonight. He needed the sleep. 

She wondered how her parents had spent their last moments. How confused they had been… another sob came. She doubted their deaths had been gentle.

Memory after memory flooded her head. Hiking, France, forests, her parents dancing in the living room, her dad’s failed attempts at grilling, her mom’s laughter… she didn’t know how long she sat there crying. She hadn’t cried since Fred’s funeral. 

Frustration welled up inside her. Who had killed them? A death eater, but which one? The Malfoys or Bellatrix were the only ones who had had the opportunity to access her mind, but they could have told anyone. 

She would find out. She would find out and she would bring them to justice. Images of death eaters swam in front of her eyes. Rockwood. Carrows. Yaxley. Crabbe. Goyle. Pettigrew. Malfoy. Lestrange. Which one?

The door banged open and her wand was out in a flash pointing at the intruder. The intruder who was holding his hands up. Empty hands. Kuroo.

Hermione hastily pocketed her wand, then scrubbed at her eyes. “Don’t you have a match?” Even though it was just a game, those had seemed important to him.

He was walking toward her slowly, warily. “Kind of hard to focus when your chest feels like it’s being ripped in half.”

“Gomen.” Shared emotions. Right. She hadn’t meant to cause him pain.

He sat down next to her. “Do you want to talk?”

Hermione shook her head, then bit her lip. Then sighed. They were soulmates, she’d have to tell him eventually, and they had to start somewhere. It couldn’t all be conversations about favorite colors. “I miss them. My parents.” She was hugging her knees tightly. “I tried to protect them, but death eaters killed them.” Kuroo put his arm around her. It felt nice, comforting. She leaned into his shoulder, the words pouring out of her. “I erased all their memories of me,” she felt Kuroo tense up in surprise, but she kept going, “I gave them new identities and compelled them to move to Australia.” Kuroo began to rub her shoulder in circles. The newness of the feeling helped distract her. “I thought that way they would be safe, but they weren’t.” She paused, “I haven’t even told the Tsukishimas that. Don’t mention it to Kei.” She tried to push down another sob, but she was unsuccessful. “I keep imagining their last moments. How confused they must have been. These people coming and torturing them, all for a daughter they didn’t even know…” 

Her voice trailed off into sobs. She turned toward Kuroo, burying her head in his shoulder. He pulled her into a more comfortable position in his lap, and she couldn’t even bring herself to care. At some point the door opened and closed. Kuroo kept drawing circles on her back. Slowly the tears faded once more.

“What happened? Were you alone?” 

Kei’s voice. Laced with concern, with anger. Hermione shook her head. She squeezed Kuroo’s shoulder for thanks, then slid back down and turned toward her cousin. “No. I was just…washing dishes. I couldn’t escape the memories.” She looked off to the side. “Gomen. You both left your matches to find me.”

Kei snorted, and Hermione looked up at him, confused. Her cousin sat down on the desk behind him, legs still touching the ground. “You must’ve been here for a while. Mine just ended, but the team we’re playing next hasn’t finished so coach told us to take a quick break. As for Kuroo-san…” Kei trailed off with a smirk. 

Hermione glanced at Kuroo. He was rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “I messed up on a jump and sprained my ankle pretty spectacularly. Nothing magic didn’t fix quickly, but Coach doesn’t know that, so he ordered me to take the day off.”

Kei was snickering. Kuroo wouldn’t look her in the eyes. “The whole day for a sprained ankle?”

“More like the whole day so he wouldn’t hurt himself worse. Kuroo-san was making all kinds of mistakes. We weren’t even playing Nekoma and I could tell something was wrong.”

Oh. _Kind of hard to focus when your chest feels like it’s being ripped in half._ “Gomen.”

Kuroo sighed, tilting his head back against the wall. “Not your fault. It just startled me, that’s all.”

Kei stared at the two of them. “I’m missing something.”

Hermione turned back to her cousin, “We’re still figuring out the parameters of our bond. It affects people different ways. It seems we can feel each other’s strong emotions.”

“Right.” Kei shook his head, then pushed himself up off of the desk. “Keep me updated, you weirdos. I should probably be getting back. Some of us don’t have the day off.” He waved at them nonchalantly, then left the room.

Silence.

“I really am—”

“Don’t say you’re sorry.”

Hermione let out a huff of frustration. “Well what am I supposed to say, then? It may just be a game, but I know the matches are important to you.” She had lived with enough quidditch mania from Harry and Ron to at least be able to grasp that much.

“Yeah, they are, but… priorities, you know? Volleyball’s the best, but people are more important. I knew the second I saw you that this training camp was going to be a hell of complicated.” Well, that was certainly true.

“I’ll just have to learn to work past your emotions.” He glanced sideways at her. “Maybe try to stay around more people during matches, though? Less intense emotions would help.” He smirked, “the arousal earlier today certainly was pleasant, even if it was also hard to play while fighting a hard-on.”

Hermione blushed bright red. Why did her soulmate have to be so crude? She tried valiantly to clear her thoughts. “If you’re feeling my emotions that consistently, how come I’ve barely felt yours?”

Kuroo blinked. “Maybe not intense enough? No, I doubt your arousal was that intense, as complementary as that might be.” He threw her a smirk and she glared at him. “Maybe you’ve felt them, but they’ve been so similar to yours you haven’t noticed?”

Her brow furrowed. She thought back through the day. Kuroo shifted next to her. “Just keep a watch out for it, I guess? I first noticed because it was so startling—I don’t normally feel aroused or excruciatingly sad during games, you know. If you watch for it, you’ll probably notice.”

“I’ll try. It’s better than nothing, I suppose.”

Kuroo stood up and stretched. “Come on, let’s go watch the matches. I can at least think about strategy off the court.” Hermione nodded absently and held out her hand for him to help her up. His hand was warm and calloused. There were the tell-tale wand callouses, but others, as well. 

He smiled at her, then pulled his wand out from a hidden pocket along the seam of his gym shorts. “Do you mind? I don’t fancy walking out there with you when you look like you’ve been crying. Karasuno would pummel me.”

Hermione laughed. “Go ahead, thanks.” She couldn’t say that she liked the idea of someone she barely knew casting spells on her, but this was her soulmate, supposedly. And he was friends with Kei. To distract herself, she looked at his wand. It was dark in the room, but the wand looked… ebony, almost. The wood was such a dark color, and well-polished. She blushed and looked away, then felt a soft tingling sensation around her eyes.

She felt… happy. Her eyes widened and snapped to meet Kuroo’s. “You’re happy.” She was confused. Nothing had happened. “Why?”

Kuroo broke eye contact, the pocketed his wand. “You trusted me.” Hermione blinked. “When I came in earlier…” he waved his hand vaguely, “you’re obviously still jumpy from the war. But you let me cast a spell on you. One you probably could have done yourself.” 

Oh. “I couldn’t’ve, actually. A spell like that was hardly high on my priority list during the war.”

“I know a spell you don’t?” He stared at her incredulously. “Sorry, I just don’t know that many spells. I learned that one for Kenma when we were little…” He grinned at her, “Though he probably wouldn’t appreciate me telling you that.”

She reached for his hand again, then began pulling him toward the door. “Come on, before they send a search party.” The tugging seemed to lessen the closer they got, so holding hands created a nice reprieve. 

Once they got outside she quickly realized that she had no clue where to go, but Kuroo just laughed and pulled her to the right. She gladly followed him. It had been a long time since she had been in a muggle school building, and she was now far more familiar with castle layouts than those of a non-magical school. She could hear the sounds of the matches, but she was deeper in the maze of hallways than before and would quickly have gotten lost.

They soon reach the doorway, but Kuroo paused. “If you ever see an opening, you can tell Akaashi about us. Best to wait until private to talk to Bokuto, though. He overreacts to everything.” She nodded, that seemed to correspond with what she’d observed at lunch. Kuroo pulled up their joint hands and kissed her knuckles. Hermione blushed. “As reluctant as I am to let your hand go, certain people will probably fuss enough that we’re walking in together, much less if I walked in holding your hand.” 

Hermione’s hand fell to her side. “You’re probably right.” Since he seemed to have finished talking, she pushed the doors open and walked into the gym. She felt Kuroo follow behind her a second later. A few people glanced their way--Kuroo’s friend Kenma raised his eyebrows, and the Nekoma coach shook his head, but thankfully most people seemed preoccupied with their matches. 

Shimizu, however, was watching her with a knowing smile. Hermione groaned. 

“I’m going to go watch Fukurodani. Join me?” Kuroo took a step toward the team with blue jerseys, but Hermione shook her head.

“I at least need to go check in with Yachi and Shimizu. See if they need anything. I did leave during the middle of kitchen duty.”

Kuroo shook his head. “Those two have it covered, but whatever. Come join me if or when you can.” With that he wandered off toward where Bokuto was jumping around.

Hermione bit her lip, then headed over to where the two girls were.

“Did you have a good talk?” 

Hermione glared at Shimizu. “Yes.”

“Granger-san, are you ok? You looked upset earlier…” Yachi’s voice trailed off uncertainly. 

Hermione sighed. She should have realized that the girl would have noticed her mood. “I’m fine, I just remembered something sad. I wanted to wait until my eyes cleared up before I came back.” Shimizu nodded, but Yachi still looked confused. “until you couldn’t tell that I’d been crying.” 

“Oh!” Yachi hit her palm with her fist. “Naruhodo,” she paused, “but why were you with Kuroo-san, then?” 

Shimizu smiled, “Hai. Why were you with Kuroo-san?” 

Hermione harrumphed. “I was lost and couldn’t find my way back to the gym. He helped me.” That was true enough.

Yachi seemed to lose interest at that and began to watch the match again, but Shimizu kept talking, “That was nice.”

Hermione just glared at Shimizu again. “Yes.” She did not want to deal with any interference right now, even if the girl meant well. “Can I help you with anything?”

Shimizu shook her head and turned back to the match. “We’re just taking notes.”

“About what?” She was good at taking notes, after all. 

“How many times their moves succeed, who scores how many points, what the opponents’ strengths and weaknesses are, that sort of thing.” Hermione felt lost. Shimizu sent her a playful smile, “Why don’t you ask Kuroo-san to explain it? I’m sure he’d be happy to.”

He had wanted her to join him… She looked back at the stands. Kuroo was watching her and smirked when they made eye contact. Typical. Though it was a bit alarming that she already knew what a typical reaction from him would be. “Fine. I will.” 

Hermione just turned and walked toward him, ignoring whatever Shimizu’s reaction might have been. He leaned back and watched her approach, and Hermione felt a tendril of satisfaction that must have been from him. They were weak, but she could feel the difference in their emotions if she focused. Now that she knew what it felt like, some of her emotions earlier during the day were probably combined with his. Like when he had entered the cafeteria. He must have been happy that she had saved him a seat like he’d asked. Simply seeing each other shouldn’t have made her want to smile like that. 

She sat down beside him. “Apparently Shimizu and Yachi are too busy taking notes to teach me what they take notes about. Shimizu said to come ask you.” 

Kuroo glanced toward the two girls. “Did she? I’ll have to thank her for the opportunity.” He paused, “Do you actually want to learn or is that just your excuse to have my brilliant company?”

“I want to learn, of course.” Hermione looked at him, confused. “It’s important to you, so I want to learn. If you want to be a coach later on its hardly like this is a passing hobby.” She was rewarded with a bright smile and a feeling of abrupt happiness bursting forth. 

Kuroo turned back to the players and waved at the blue team. “Let’s take the noisy owl, then, and his team. Watch for a bit and see who scores the most points. That’s the easiest thing to notice.”

Hermione watched for a few minutes, but it didn’t take her long to form a conclusion, “Your friend. Bokuto-san?” She was a bit unsure of the name since people mostly seemed to call him an owl instead. She must have been right, though, because Kuroo nodded. 

“How is he scoring them?”

“By hitting them across the net…” She felt like she was missing something. She knew she was missing something when Kuroo laughed.

“Sure, sure, but there are different ways to do that. Straight, angled, how many defenders is he going up against, how hard he can hit it, things like that.”

Hermione watched, perplexed. There didn’t seem to be a pattern, Bokuto was hitting the ball to avoid the defenders, though there were usually several of those and sometimes he would just blast through them. She said as much.

Kuroo nodded again. “That’s why he’s such an annoying spiker to deal with as a defender. He has several good options to use. Many don’t. Watch one of the other players and you’ll notice the difference.”

The impromptu volleyball lesson continued for a while, and Hermione noticed that the other team seemed to get most of their points from serves. As long as Bokuto’s team picked the ball up, they usually got the point. Soon, though, the match ended. 

“Hey, Hey, Hey!” Bokuto came bounding toward them. “You enjoy the match? What’d you think, Granger-san? Impressed? I’m awesome, aren’t I?”

Hermione blinked at the onslaught of questions, “You certainly scored a lot of points.” Kuroo was laughing beside her. 

Bokuto puffed out his chest. “I know, right? I’m just awesome.” With that he was bounding away. “Akaashi! Akaashi! Granger-san thinks I’m awesome!” Akaashi mumbled some response, but whatever it was, she couldn’t hear it because of the distance.

Then she suddenly felt nervous—no, that was Kuroo. She looked at him, but Kuroo was watching someone as he walked across the gym toward them, the boy he had pointed out earlier talking to Hinata-san. 

“How’s your ankle?” English, though quietly spoken. She appreciated it. The question was clearly addressed to Kuroo, but the boy’s eyes were watching her, evaluating her presence.

“Fine. The coach knows it, too. Wish he would let me back in, but I’m enjoying my present company.” Kuroo flashed a grin at her, but despite his at ease exterior she could feel his nervousness.

Kenma’s eyes flicked toward Kuroo. “He’s noticed you heal too quickly. Thinks it’s odd.” Kuroo just shrugged. 

Golden eyes focused on her again. “She’s why you haven’t dated?”

Hermione blinked, confused, but all she felt from Kuroo was pride and contentment. Not helpful. She also didn’t appreciate being addressed in the third person, but he was at least speaking English, not Japanese. 

“Yes.” Kuroo turned toward her, “Kenma” there was a pointed look at his friend, probably because he had yet to introduce himself, “asked me once why I never dated. I told him about my..” he paused, looking for the right word, “superstition.” Hermione smiled slightly, yes, soulbonds would meet that description for many, her former self included. Though it was impressive that Kuroo’s friend had put together that they were soulmates just from one conversation and the day’s events. Bokuto and Akaashi hadn’t seemed to have done so. 

Kenma nodded, as though the answer was exactly what he’d expected, then held out his hand. “Kenma Koozume.”

Hermione reached out to shake it, “Granger Hermione.” She watched to see if her name caused any reaction, but the boy just nodded again. “See you around.” With that he wandered off toward the Karasuno team. 

“Tch. Coward. Kenma just left because he didn’t want to deal with Lev.” Kuroo angled his head toward a tall boy in a red jersey with silver hair that was coming toward them quickly.

“Kuroo-san!” The boy spoke in rapid Japanese, motioning toward Kuroo’s ankle at one point. Was he asking if it was better? 

Kuroo laughed, asking a question in Japanese, then scowling at the boy’s response. 

 

“Sheesh.” He sighed and turned toward her, “Apparently my team is hopeless without me, so I’m afraid I will have to bid you farewell.”

Hermione just shook her head, happy for him. During their ‘lesson’ it had been obvious that he wanted to be on the court. “Go on, I’m sure I’ll manage somehow.”

‘Lev’ appeared to suddenly notice her. “Gomen! I’m Lev Haiba.” He held out his hand, then shook hers enthusiastically when she accepted the handshake.

“Granger, Hermione. Pleasure.” She pulled her hand back tenderly, but the other boy was already walking away.

“Well. Duty calls.” Kuroo grinned at her, then began to follow his teammate.

“Have fun!” She called after him, and he waived a hand over his shoulder. 

He was…something. Dedicated to this game, definitely. And to his friends. She liked what she’d learned so far, even if she was still a bit skeptical of the whole soulmate thing.

Hermione watched the remaining matches in a daze, occasionally trying to implement what Kuroo had told her and take notes. Most of the time, though, she followed the tug of her magic and watched Kuroo. 

After the matches ended, Shimizu approached her. “Did you take good notes?” She picked up the discarded notepad and flipped through the pages. “Oh?” She faked her surprise, laughing as she handed the notepad back to Hermione. “Most of these are about Nekoma, specifically its captain.”

“Oh shush, Shimizu.”

“Sumimasen. Granger-san.” Hermione blinked and turned away from the manager to see Akaashi standing behind her. “Ano… Kuroo, Bokuto, and some others wanted to set up a 3 on 3 match. Would you keep score and take notes for us?” Hermione blinked. She was supposed to help in the kitchen… oh. No doubt Kuroo was trying to avoid a repeat of lunch. She wondered why Kuroo hadn’t come himself, but then she caught a glimpse of him being pulled from the gym by an enthusiastic Lev and Bokuto.

“I don’t know how helpful my notes will be, but…” she turned back to Shimizu, “Do you need me for dinner?” 

Shimizu just shook her head. “The coach wanted you here to help the free practice groups, really. Go ahead, even if they are from other teams.” Hermione sighed. At least the girl’s matchmaking efforts were helpful.

Hermione nodded her thanks and grabbed a pad and pen, then turned to Akaashi, “Looks like I’m free.”

“This way then.” Hermione followed him out of the gym, then realized they were relatively alone on the pathway. Kuroo had said she could tell Akaashi if she saw a chance… and having more people know would certainly be helpful when dealing with situations like what had happened this afternoon. She stopped walking, indecisive about how to bring it up. Akaashi walked a few more steps, then turned back to look at her questioningly

“Ano… Kuroo-san and I…” Hermione took a deep breath. It was probably best to be blunt. Kuroo had said Akaashi would be able to control his reaction. She double checked to make sure no one was close enough to hear her. “Kuroo’s my soulmate.”

Akaashi’s eyebrows rose. “Well.” He paused for a few seconds, head cocked to the side. “I must say, that explains a lot. I figured he sat next to you at lunch because he’d overheard your name or had just gone over to bother Tsukki, but that wasn’t it at all, was it?” Hermione shook her head. Akaashi ran a hand through his hair. “It distracted him at practice, then?” 

Hermione winced. “My fault. Hopefully won’t happen again. I can’t make promises, though.” She sighed. “At least not right now.”

Aaashi just nodded. “Alright. I’ll try to help cover. You two are going to be a mess until you adjust to this.” And until they had accepted the bond, Hermione added. It wasn’t like the two of them lived close together. 

He seemed to be thinking about something, but then all he said was, “Let me handle telling Bokuto.” He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Just so you’re aware, he’s mine. My soulmate, I mean.” Hermione’s eyes widened.

“That…makes sense, actually. I noticed that you two appeared very close.”

Apparently that was all Akaashi had to say about the subject because he just nodded, then turned and started walking again. Hermione hurried to follow. When they reached the gym door, Hermione could hear Kuroo’s loud voice inside. She grinned and opened the door--immediately his head snapped around.

“Granger-san! Glad you could join us. I figured if we were going to practice, it would be nice to have someone keep score and take notes,” he smirked at her, “even if they are incomplete.”

She rolled her eyes, “How very kind of you for the opportunity to practice.”

He shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a nice guy.”

Kei scoffed next to Kuroo. Hermione was surprised to see Kei in the gym, he had said he was going back to shower, but when she raised an eyebrow at him all he did was cross his arms and glare at Kuroo. Hm. Apparently her soulmate had been able to persuade her cousin somehow. Lev and Bokuto were nowhere in sight, so he had somehow managed to escape them, as well.

Kuroo looked between the two of them, “Oi! No silent cousin sarcasm. Not ok.” 

Hermione laughed. “And how did you know it was sarcasm.”

“A raised eyebrow, love, is always sarcastic.”

Hermione felt her face flame at Kuroo’s endearment. Kei just rolled his eyes, and Akaashi muttered something beside her about his having been blind before. 

Thankfully, Hermione was saved from having to respond by Bokuto’s boisterous “Hey, Hey, Hey!” as he bounded into the room, Hinata in tow. Lev appeared a second later. 

Hermione smiled as she watched them arrange the teams, then went over to a chair on the side and began to take notes. Points weren’t that hard to keep track of, not with Bokuto’s loud exclamations whenever either side scored, but keeping track of moves and such was a bit trickier. It was pretty clear that Kuroo was still trying to help Kei and Lev with blocking, so she tried to focus on that, and Bokuto seemed to be trying to help Hinata learn how to fight against blockers… she sighed. No wonder Yachi and Shimizu both took notes at the same time. There was a lot to keep track of and she was only watching 6 people. She had even less of an idea about what notes to take for Akaashi. She would learn, though. She was Hermione Granger. There was no subject she couldn’t master, even if she didn’t exactly have any frame of reference for sports.

“You’re adorable.”

She blinked and looked up from the paper. Kuroo was crouching in front of her, smirking. Kei was standing some ways off, watching them from the doorway. No one else was there. Hermione cursed herself for being so absent minded, a year ago that would have gotten her killed. 

“I was trying to figure out what block Kei-kun did that worked best statistically against Bokuto-san…” Kuroo’s smirk just grew as she talked, so Hermione’s voice trailed off, uncertain. He was…aroused? By her talking about numbers? 

Her confusion must have shown on her face, because Kuroo clarified, “I like that you’re showing such interest in my sport.” He reached up to tuck some loose hair behind her ear. “Dinner?” 

She nodded, and he slipped his hand into hers, then pulled them both up. Hermione clutched the pad and pen in one hand as they walked to the door. Kei stopped them, clearing his throat. “Most people do not hold hands the first day they meet someone.”

Kuroo dropped her hand, holding both his hands up in surrender as he passed the threshold of the gym, “Fine, fine, chaperone all you want, Tsukki.”

“I’m not—tch. Whatever.” He strode out the door and Hermione followed him, smiling to herself. “Just trying to help you with the façade, that’s all.”

“Of course, Kei-kun. Whatever you need to tell yourself.” Hermione patted him on the shoulder as she sped up to walk beside Kuroo. Kei just pinched the bridge of his nose and made a strangled noise. 

“Hurry up, Tsukki. You heard the girls. If we’re late there won’t be any dinner left.”

“Like they would do that to Hermione-neesan. They probably figure we kept her there cleaning up.”

Kuroo just shrugged, but Hermione was happy to see food laid out when they reached the cafeteria. That being said, the other girls were already starting to wash dishes, so their dinner was a hurried, silent affair. 

As they turned in their trays, Hermione was about to offer to help clean, but Kei just grabbed her elbow and pulled her out of the kitchen. 

“I can clean—”

“I talked to Shimizu. You’re off kitchen duty.”

“You what?!” Hermione glared at her cousin, yanking her elbow out of his hand. “I know it went badly today, but I can focus! I’ll just keep talking to the girls.”

“Tch.” Kei looked around, but thankfully the hallway was empty. “It’s not worth the risk. You don’t just affect you, now.”

Hermione frowned, glancing at Kuroo, who had been silent the whole time. He held up his hands. “I’m staying out of this. You do you.”

“Thank you.” She turned to glare at Kei. “I can’t just keep running, Kei-kun.”

“You didn’t see Kuroo-san falling all over the court this afternoon.”

“Oi! I said keep me out of it.”

Hermione winced. That bad? “He’s not on the court after dinner, though. I can help with other things after lunch, but after dinner this is the only thing the girls are doing.” 

Kei just stared at her for a long time, thinking. “Fine. I won’t stop you.” He looked down at his watch, “but you’re already late for your call with your friends.”

Hermione blanched. “Blast. Um… where’s an empty classroom?” Kei pointed at the door next to them. “Well how was I supposed to know that?” Hermione shot him one last glare then darted into the room; she was about to perform the privacy spells when Kuroo slipped in after her. 

“Do you mind? I just…” He ran a hand through his hair, “I don’t like being apart. Probably the newness of the bond. And it’s not like we’ll be able to see each other past curfew, so…” he shrugged. 

She sighed. “I don’t really, just… stand out of view for a bit? I’d like to explain things first.” Hermione bit her lip, “um… Harry already knows, but Ron… might react a bit strongly. I’m not sure. We…” She looked at Kuroo. He hadn’t dated anyone. She closed her eyes, “I thought soulbonds were a superstition until recently. Like divination.” She opened them. Kuroo was watching her closely. No smirk. Hermione’s voice became rushed. “I dated Ron right after the war. Just for about a month, really. Until his sister told me soulbonds weren’t superstition. Then we stopped.” 

Kuroo was still just watching her, silent. She closed her eyes. He felt…disappointed. And jealous, very jealous. She didn’t quite know what to do about that. But maybe a little understanding? “Gomen.. I don’t know how things are in Japan, but in Britain the rate of finding your soulmate is only about 50% and with all the people that died in the war…” She sighed. He felt a little less disappointed now, but was definitely still jealous. “We only kissed a few times. Ron told me later that it didn’t feel right once he knew we were soulmates, but he wasn’t sure what to do since I thought it wasn’t real…” Was that her own sadness? His? Kuroo’s eyes certainly looked sad, but he wasn’t crying. 

“It’s ok. We typically wait in Japan—we don’t all know each other as kids since we have an apprentice-ship system, so it’s a simple thing to just check your friends when you turn of age. Then there are parties you can go to where you meet others who are still looking…” He sighed. “It’s ok, though. You’re from a different country with different practices. I can understand that.” He smirked, but it was tinged with a little sadness, “just kissing isn’t much, for all the time that you’ve known the guy.” There was a pause, and his voice was a bit softer when he next spoke, “I can understand if you don’t want me here with all of that.” 

Hermione shook her head, “Thank you. I think it will be fine, though, just… let me handle it.” Kuroo nodded and stepped back, gesturing for her to go ahead. Hermione pulled the mirror out of her pocket, then laughed at Kuroo’s incredulous look. “Harry’s Dad invented them. They’re bloody convenient.”

She tapped the screen to wake up the mirror. “Harry.” Immediately her friend’s face came into view, Ron’s right beside him.

“Blimey, Hermione. How long were you planning on making us wait?” Ron was snacking on something, probably Bertie Bott’s. It was early in the morning for them and Ron had already broken into his bedroom stash. Either he was worried about something, or Molly had been distracted and burnt breakfast. 

“Sorry. It’s been a crazy day.” 

Harry smiled, but it was tight, slightly faked. “I get it. Travelling and all that. We were just concerned. Some of the Death Eaters still haven’t been caught, you know.”

Hermione frowned. There was more to it than that. Harry had talked with her earlier, so he would know why she might be a bit late. “What happened?” She should have noticed earlier. Harry had been sleepless for a reason.

Ron snorted. “Knew we couldn’t hide it. You were all, ‘Hermione can’t do anything so why worry her?’ Like that would ever work.”

“Some help you are, Ron. Now she knows something happened.” Harry shoved Ron, who promptly fell off the bed and out of the mirror’s view. 

“Oi! She already knew, idiot. Once she suspects something there’s no fooling her. Never has been.” Ron appeared back on the screen as Harry sighed.

“Bellatrix Lestrange was spotted yesterday outside your apartment.” 

Hermione froze. Her breaths came quicker, shallower. She barely registered Kuroo’s pained gasp from across the room. Kuroo. Bellatrix would hurt Kuroo. 

He had never seen war. 

Hermione felt lightheaded. She could hear Harry’s voice distantly trying to assure her of something. 

She could hear their screams. Harry screaming her name. Ron screaming, pleading for them to take him instead. She fell to her knees, clutching her arm with one hand, the mirror with the other. 

The dagger plunging into her flesh, again and again. Spelling out that vile word. Bellatrix laughing. Laughing more and more. 

The pain of the crucio. Hermione started gasping for air, any air. Her vision was starting to blur. 

An arm circled around her, holding her tight. She fought it. They were holding her down. They were going to write something else. 

Blood tricked down her hand. Not another scar. She couldn’t—

“Hermione.” A voice. She felt… concern. Why would she feel concern? The sword. She couldn’t let Bellatrix know about the sword. “Hermione.” Her name again. It wasn’t a scream, though. Not like that day. She felt the mirror being gently pulled from her hand. 

Kuroo. Kuroo hadn’t been there. She clung to him. He was saying something, talking to the mirror. Telling the boys to give them a second. Hermione focused on his presence. Her breaths began to come more evenly. 

“—didn’t have to tell her the name, idiot! Of course she would react like that!” 

She closed her eyes. Kuroo was humming softly next to her. She didn’t know the song, but it was soft, soothing. When he saw that she had calmed down though, he stopped. Harry and Ron were still arguing in the background. Kuroo looked concerned, but all he said was, “I think they believe I’m your cousin. Given the circumstances I didn’t bother to correct them, but we probably should.”

Hermione laughed softly, but it was enough to silence the bickering from the mirror. 

“You’re not her cousin?”

Ron’s voice. Harry had probably already put the pieces together. 

Hermione sighed. She went over to pick up the mirror and, if she wasn’t so emotionally drained, she would have laughed at Ron’ baffled expressions. 

“Hermione, I trust you, but…” Ron paused uncertainly, then apparently decided to forge on, “He looks like a Slytherin.”

“Oh, shut up, Ronald.” His mouth closed with a satisfying click. Kuroo was sitting against the wall, so Hermione went to sit next to him, angling the mirror so that they both would be seen. They really weren’t meant for more than one person. “Kuroo-san, the redhead is Ron Weasley, the one with the famous scar is Harry Potter. Harry, Ron, this is Tetsurou Kuroo.” The boys nodded slowly, still obviously a bit baffled by Kuroo’s presence. 

She took a deep, steadying breath. “Let’s return to… her…later. As long as she’s still looking in Britain I’m safe, and it’s not like I was ever at that apartment much, anyway.” Mrs. Weasley had quickly convinced her that being alone was nonsensical and that she should stay with them. “I have something important to tell you, too.” Good. She had their attention. Harry looked like he was bracing himself. “My day was crazy for a more unexpected reason. Some of the other teams at the training camp had wizards.” 

“And we all recognized the name Hermione Granger.”

Harry laughed, “I told you, Hermione.”

Ron looked concerned, though, “All?”

“There’s just Kuroo-san and two of his friends. It’s fine, really.” They nodded slowly. She sighed. “That wasn’t the main reason it was chaotic, though.” Now that the moment was here, she didn’t quite know what to say. She looked at Kuroo uncertainly, then at Ron. “I… We…” she sighed and looked down. 

“He’s your soulmate, isn’t he.” Hermione’s head shot up to stare at Ron incredulously. “Pretty obvious, really, once I knew he was a wizard. You wouldn’t let some random bloke in on our conversations. We’ve heard your cousin’s voice when he’s interrupted a few times, but never seen him. So this guy has to be pretty important, and there’s only so many ways to become that important and that trusted, that quickly.”

Ron always had possessed a strategic mind. She just rarely saw it outside chess, so it always took her by surprise. “Right.” Hermione tried to keep the disbelief from her voice, but she doubted she succeeded. “And you’re ok with this?”

Ron shrugged. “I’ve talked about it after you left. With Dad. And Mum. And Bill. Basically the whole family took me aside at one point or another after they figured out that we broke up.” He looked away from the mirror. “We agreed to look for our own soulmates. Makes no sense to be jealous about it.” 

Hermione smiled. For all that Ron still sounded like he was trying to convince himself of what he said, she appreciated the maturity. “Thank you, Ron.”

He nodded stiffly. Harry, on the other hand, was staring at Kuroo as if he wanted to dissect him. Kuroo shifted nervously beside her. She realized suddenly that Harry was the Destroyer of Voldemort to him, and probably very intimidating.

“Harry Potter, you stop that right now. Kuroo-san has been nothing but wonderful all day and you will not threaten him.” Hermione glared at her friend. Harry looked slightly abashed, but Hermione didn’t doubt that there would be a threat the first time Harry saw him alone. Probably the same from all the Weasleys, actually. She sighed. 

“Kuroo-san’s presence complicates things if Bellatrix finds out I’m in Japan. She’ll target him, too, and he’s not good at dueling.”

“Oi!”

“What? You said as much at lunch. You said that I could wipe the floor with you, Bokuto-san, and Akaashi-san,” she looked at the mirror briefly to explain, “the other two wizard volleyball players,” then turned back to Kuroo, “thinking that you would lose with three-on-one odds implies that all three of you have little to no experience with dueling.”

Kuroo was rubbing the back of his head, “Did you have to say it so bluntly, though? I have some pride.”

Hermione sniffed. “No doubt you could outrun Bellatrix with ease, so there’s that, at least.”

Kuroo groaned and the other two laughed. 

Ron, apparently trying to extend a branch of peace, asked, “What are you good at, then?”

“Potions.” Kuroo and Hermione answered at the same time. He smirked at her. “I actually take the test for my masters over winter break.”

Hermione blinked. Ron made a strangled sound between a choke and a laugh. “You’re having us on, right?”

Kuroo just shook his head. “Since in Japan we enroll in non-magical education, we don’t have much time to learn everything there is about magic. Instead, we specialize on just one topic. Because of that, we often take the exams for our masters at the end of our last summer in high school.” He shrugged, “We don’t always pass the first time, but about a quarter do, and I plan to be in that quarter. The rest will keep taking the test until they pass, usually before their third year in college.”

Hermione was fascinated by the different system, but she knew now wasn’t the time for questions. “So you may be hopeless with a wand, but you can brew pretty much anything, is that it?” 

“Pretty much.” He sighed. “Bokuto does charms, so he’s at least quick with spells. Akaashi does runes, but even though he’s a year behind us his whole family specializes in that subject, so he’s been studying it since he was really little. He could probably take his mastery now, to be honest.”

Ron nodded. “We can work with that.” He appeared lost in thought for a second, then nodded again. “I’ll get the recipe for the Peruvian Darkness Powder from George and give it to you tomorrow. He told me it was like a potion, so Kuroo-san should be able to make it. That would hopefully give him enough time to run away if Bellatrix catches him alone.”

Hermione smiled, a strategy based on potions and running. “I’ll teach him how to make a solid protego, as well.” Kuroo stiffened beside her, she could feel something like dread coming from him, but he just smiled tightly at her so she turned back to Harry, who was now talking. 

“That would be for the best. You’ll do better with attacking if you only have to throw up the occasional specialty shield.” She nodded. She’d already been planning to make Kuroo could hold a good shield before she heard about Bellatrix, honestly. She was too paranoid to do otherwise. She needed to make him and the others portkey bracelets, as well. 

Bokuto probably had a decent shield, and runes were primarily used for defense, so Akaashi would be helpful in many ways. With a mastery level knowledge of runes, he could probably set up some pretty impressive wards, especially with the help of her spells. 

“Please don’t worry too much, Hermione. It will be ok.” She snapped back to attention, focusing on Harry. He would just worry if she was too distracted. “The aurors are looking into it, as is the Order. We’ll catch her.” He sounded determined, which she appreciated, but they both knew how tricky Bellatrix could be. They had thought she was dead, after all. 

“Be careful. Just because she was found near my apartment doesn’t mean she’s not also interested in you two.”

Harry nodded. “We know.” His eyes flickered toward Kuroo. “We should probably go down and help the other Weasleys get ready for the day.”

“Help with what?” Ron looked at him surprised, then winced. Probably Harry had stepped on his foot. Hermione smiled at their antics. “Right. I, uh.. forgot. Ginny wants help with a thing. Bye, Hermione.”

Harry seconded the farewell, adding Kuroo’s name as well, which was nice. Then the mirror went blank.

Hermione gently set it down on a nearby desk, not quite willing to face Kuroo, yet. She could feel his curiosity, but mostly his concern and worry. She didn’t really want to talk about her reaction to Bellatrix’s name, not yet, but maybe…showing might be better than telling. She swallowed, then pointed her wand at her arm. At the glamour spell hiding the word cursed into her skin. “Finite.” The words came out as barely more than a whisper, but it was enough. 

Kuroo gently took her arm. “This was what you were rubbing, at lunch. Why you felt sad and frustrated.”

She didn’t dare look at it.

Maybe showing wasn’t enough. She took a deep breath. “We were captured once. Bellatrix…” her voice trailed off. She felt as if something was choking her, stopping the words from coming out.

Kuroo picked her up and pulled her gently into his lap, hugging her. “Thank you. Thank you for showing me.” His arms tightened around her briefly. “You don’t have to tell me before you’re ready, though.” She could feel his worry, concern, affection… It was nice to be held like this, to be comforted. “I’d reapply it, but…” now his frustration outweighed his other feelings. “I don’t know the spell you used.”

Hermione let out a soft giggle at the ridiculousness of it. Of his ignorance of what was to her the simplest disguise spell, but knowledge of a spell to hide the puffiness of one’s eyes. Of the fact that she was sitting in a boy’s lap for the second time that day when she would have been scandalized by such an act yesterday. Of the fact that she had found her soulmate at her cousin’s volleyball camp of all places. Once she started, she found she couldn’t stop. The whole craziness of the day just exploded in her. 

Focusing on Kuroo’s confusion helped her to finally calm down, and when she was back to quiet giggles there was a knock on the door. Hermione hastily reapplied the glamour, then nodded at Kuroo’s questioning look. 

The second the door was open Bokuto bounded into the room with a “Hey, Hey, Hey!” and Akaashi followed behind him more sedately. Kuroo shut the door and Hermione quickly reapplied the silencing wards, this time following behind them with a notice-me-not. It was only thinks to her speed developed from casting the spells thousands of times during the war that she managed to finish before Bokuto kept talking. 

“Kuroo, my man! Congrats! A year and a half since you became of age and you’ve already found your lady!” Kuroo was 18 and a half? So they were the same age, roughly. That was nice. 

Bokuto gave Kuroo several hard whacks on the back, and Hermione found herself wincing as pain sprouted between her shoulder blades. 

She blanched. Shared pain. But she hadn’t felt Kuroo’s sprain earlier… and they were already sharing emotions… 

She needed to research. Badly. Their bond was developing too quickly, and now with more than one ability. Ginny’s book had just said that was possible, but rare.

“You felt that, didn’t you?” Akaashi was watching her closely; at his words both Kuroo and Bokuto turned to stare at her.

Hermione nodded.

Kuroo groaned and collapsed on the chair behind him. “What the heck? Usually it’s emotions or pain or thoughts or something else, not two things.” He closed his eyes. “It’s only been one day, too. This usually takes months.” He looked at Akaashi, “How long did it take you two?”

“A few months. At first it was a stray thought here or there, then that led to more.”

“Tch. Cheaters. Everyone wonders how you manage without any apparent signals.”

Akaashi shrugged. “It’s not like anyone can prove we’re doing anything, and I can only do it with Bokuto.”

Hermione’s brain was whizzing. She hadn’t noticed when Kuroo sprained his ankle this afternoon. Had it just been before that ability manifested, or had she just been too distressed to notice?

Bokuto whistled. “Man, two abilities. You two must be powerhouses. Not that it’s that surprising given Granger-san’s reputation. Though it’s a shame you had to pick potions, Kuroo.”

“I like potions.” Kuroo cracked an eye open to glare at his friend. He felt tense, but Hermione couldn’t determine why. She must be reading the emotion wrong. 

Bokuto shrugged, “Yeah, and I get that, but it doesn’t have a lot to do with magical power.”

Right. Ginny’s book had said things would be affected by power. Was Kuroo more powerful than her…? That would explain why he had been feeling the symptoms with more strength, so far. 

Akaashi cleared his throat. “While this is certainly… enlightening. We came to tell you that curfew was fast approaching.” He looked at Bokuto who quickly cast a tempus. 

“5 minutes till.” Bokuto burst out laughing. “Have you even showered yet Kuroo?” All he received was a groan. Bokuto just kept laughing, then cast scourgify on his friend. Hermione secretly marveled that Kuroo didn’t even flinch when the wand was pointed at him.

Akaashi sighed. “Well. At this rate we’ll all be in trouble for breaking curfew. At least it won’t just be Kuroo and Granger-san, though. That would lead to unpleasant rumors.” He turned to her, “Where on earth is your cousin? Isn’t he supposed to be helping you prevent that kind of thing?” 

“Kei-kun probably just figures I can get into my room unobserved.” She smirked and stood up. “Which I can. I’m afraid you three will be the only ones getting in trouble for curfew. Thanks for the warning.” 

She squeezed Kuroo’s hand as she walked past, then cancelled the wards while applying a quick notice-me-not on herself and then a point me directing her toward Yachi-san, since that’s whose room she was sharing. She darted down the hallway unobserved, cancelling the spells as she slipped into her room. 

She had far too much practice sneaking around Hogwarts at night for a non-magical curfew to give her problems. 

Yachi squeaked. “Where have you been! It’s almost curfew!” 

“I had to make a call and lost track of time.” She went over to her suitcase where it was sitting next to a futon.

There was a knock on the door. “Everyone in there?” 

Shimizu looked amused, “Yes, coach. We’re all here.” After a few seconds had past and they were sure Ukai-san had moved on, Shimizu turned to Hermione. 

“I’d like to hear your answer, Granger-san. Where have you been? I don’t believe you about the call.”

Hermione threw a pillow at her, but the other girl blocked it with her arm, laughing softly. “Well?

“I _did_ make a call," earlier that day, "but I was later with Kuroo-san, Bokuto-san, and Akaashi-san. They wanted to talk to me.” Listing the three names was very helpful, so she was thankful the two had appeared at the end so that she could say it half-truthfully. It would help that she doubted they’d gotten to their rooms on time, at least not with how scatterbrained Bokuto appeared to be. 

Nonetheless, Shimizu still zeroed in on the one name. “Oh? Kuroo-san?” Shimizu was snickering.

Yachi grinned at her. “He wanted to talk to you?” She got a dreamy look in her eyes “You’re so lucky!” She paused, “Wait, you two spent most of the day together!” She pointed her finger accusingly at Hermione, who simply sighed and nodded. 

“He’s been nice enough to teach me some of the basics of volleyball in his down time today.”

“Maybe he likes you, too, Granger-san.”

At that, Hermione did grin. The soulmate mess at least was helpful in that she didn’t have to worry about that one bit. Kuroo was definitely interested in her. “I can read the signs myself, but thanks Shimizu-san. We should probably get some sleep, though. We have to be up early in the morning to prepare breakfast.”

Hermione pulled her futon to a corner, waited until Shimizu turned off the lights, then cast a nonverbal silencing ward and notice-me-not. It wouldn’t do for her to have a nightmare and wake the other two up. And it wasn’t like she could use Dreamless Sleep every night, since it was addictive. 

After a second’s pause, she cast a tempus alarm to wake her up, but placed her cellphone inside the sleeping bag and holstered her wand to her arm. As long as the sound came from the bag the girls would just assume it was her phone.  
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that we've reached the long chapters I'll probably be posting one per day since these take longer to edit and I still want to keep writing the end of the story.


	14. July 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

Her wand was buzzing against her arm, and Hermione reluctantly cancelled the alarm spell. It had been a long night. Nightmare after nightmare with Bellatrix carving different words onto her arm, onto Kuroo’s… she shuddered. 

Thankfully the other girls weren’t up yet, so she hastily strengthened the fading glamour around her arm and neck, then crept around the room and began changing. Minutes later Shimizu’s alarm went off and the other two girls began to groggily prepare for the day. 

As they went to breakfast, Hermione saw three familiar figures jogging on the track and she shook her head. Shimizu laughed next to her, “Looks like those three didn’t make it back in time like you did.”

“I blame Bokuto-san.” The three of them laughed, but thankfully Shimizu didn’t tease further. Hermione desperately needed caffeine. 

She went through the motions of helping with breakfast, too tired for even her mind to wander much. She slumped into a seat and, seconds later, Kuroo joined her, still sweaty from his morning jog. 

He looked like a zombie.

A few less hours of sleep shouldn’t have done that. Her eyes widened. Her nightmares. Her emotions from them must have affected him somehow. “Gomen.”

Frustration, helplessness, and sadness rushed against her skin. His voice was quiet when he spoke. “How did you survive?” That hadn’t been the question she had expected. She was a bit horrified by the implications.

Akaashi and Bokuto were coming toward them, but no one else was in sight. 

“How did I…?” She needed clarification. “What exactly happened last night? My dreams affected you, but how?” 

“It was like I was watching a movie, but I could see them. Your dreams.” He saw them. A third ability. And one that wasn’t likely to be pleasant for him.

“Gomen.”

“Stop that. I—” Kuroo rubbed the back of his neck as the other two sat down to his right. “I hate that you had to go through it, but at least this way…this way I know what happened, and you won’t have to tell me.” His voice was still quiet. Hermione had the strongest urge to hug him, but given that they were public it was probably for the best that the table was between them. 

The other two wizards had arrived by that point, and Bokuto was looking between them, confused. He opened his mouth like he was about to ask what was going on, but Akaashi whacked him on the back of the head. He whimpered.

“Akaashi…it’s too early for that.”

“Then don’t try to say the stupid things you’re thinking.”

Hermione shook her head at their antics, then turned back to Kuroo. “Do you have pepper-up?” He nodded. “Take it as soon as you can, then.” 

She paused, then decided she didn’t care if Akaashi and Bokuto heard the second part. “As for your earlier question, a house elf rescued us. He was killed in the process, though.” A sigh passed her lips. “That’s a different nightmare, but you’ll probably see it soon enough. Gomen.” Akaashi and Bokuto’s eyes widened. Kuroo’s shoulders slumped, but he reached across the table to try to hold her hand.

Kei’s tray banged on the table, right in front of Kuroo’s hand and where Hermione’s had been a second before. “I told you, Kuroo-san. It’s not normal to hold hands that quickly.”

Kuroo groaned, pushed his tray back, and began banging his head on the table. Hermione winced, rubbing her forehead. “Stop that,” she hissed.

“Ugh. Gomen, Granger-san.” Kuroo looked up at her balefully over his food. “I’m just… going to go take a shower, grab some vitamins.” He stood up and stretched, then smirked at her. “I’ll just have to catch you again without your overprotective cousin around. Bokuto, finish off my food for me, would you bro?”

“Of course, bro!” Bokuto coopted his friend’s tray as the others watched Kuroo leave with concern. 

Kei looked at her. “What was that all about? And don’t think I didn’t notice these three idiots were all out past curfew tonight. I assume you were with them, Hermione-neesan, but just weren’t caught.”

She smiled tiredly at him, “I’m too good for that. They had to deal with Bokuto-san, though.”

“Oi!” Bokuto’s head snapped up, pausing from devouring Kuroo’s leftovers. “I’m the one that—” Akaashi whacked the back of his head. “Hey!” He turned wounded eyes to his soulmate.

“Quiet.”

Bokuto whimpered.

Kei cleared his throat. “Can someone please explain what’s going on with Kuroo-san? Are we going to have a repeat of yesterday?”

Hermione shook her head. “Hopefully not. He should be fine as soon as he takes his…um…vitamins.”

Kei’s eyebrow rose. “Right. Vitamins are always that helpful.” 

Next it was Kenma who wandered over. Hermione wanted to groan. It was nice that Kuroo had such good friends, but she did not want to deal with people this morning. Thinking that Kuroo had the right idea, she placed the two apples that remained from her breakfast onto Kei’s tray.

“Hey! I don’t—” She patted him on the head and he stared at her, indignant.

“Apples are good for you, Kei-kun.” 

With that she turned and left her spluttering cousin and her soulmate’s laughing friends. 

The women’s showers were thankfully deserted, so Hermione finished her morning routine (including its new addition of taking a pepperup) before going to the gym. Shimizu waved her over when she entered. 

“You look a bit tired, did you sleep alright?”

Hermione shrugged, “More or less. I never sleep too well away from home.” Or at home, for that matter, but it was nice of the other girl to notice. Lavender and Parvati never had. Well, if they had they’d never commented. 

Although the morning’s matches went smoothly, Hermione could feel the effects of the potion wearing off by lunch. She offered to help the other girls prepare the midday meal, but Shimizu had shooed her away, telling her to use the fifteen minutes to go take a quick nap. 

Hermione did head back to the room, but only laid down for about five minutes before she gave up and just picked up a few more pepperups to put into her bag. 

Nekoma had apparently won its last match because Kuroo was already there, as well as the rest of his team, while Karasuno was nowhere to be seen. Kuroo appeared to be sleeping soundly, head resting on one of the tables as Kenma sat silently on one side and Bokuto chattered away to Akaashi on the other. Kuroo began to stir, though, the second she sat down in the open spot across from him.

He opened his eyes wearily and stared at her for a second before sitting up with a huge stretch. Her eyes followed the motion, watching the muscles in his arms stretch sinuously.

He slumped back down, smirking at her. “Glad you can appreciate the view.” He rubbed his eyes. “Sorry I left breakfast so early.”

Hermione shrugged, “I left soon after you.”

Bokuto started snickering next to her. “Tsukki never did eat those apples. He tossed them at Hinata-kun and told him they were from you. Said they would help him grow.” 

Hermione shook her head. “I’ll have to scold him for that later.” If Karasuno ever finished its penalty and came to lunch. She turned toward Kuroo, “I don’t know how many of those ‘vitamins’ you have, but I have a bunch. I grabbed one for you when I went back to my room.”

Kuroo visibly perked up. “Thanks. I brought some, but not a lot.” He frowned, realizing that he was about to have a lot of restless nights.

“Gomen.” Hermione knew he probably meant what he had said at breakfast, and she appreciated it, but it was still a miserable prospect. 

Instead of repeating himself, Kuroo just sighed. He leaned backwards, looking up at the ceiling. “How are we supposed to get to know each other better if we’re always this tired?” He looked back down at her, “How do you even operate every day?”

Hermione gave him a small smile, “It’s not that bad every night, promise.” 

Kenma was looking very confused and frustrated at this point, but Hermione was glad that Kuroo hadn’t revealed everything to his friend. The dreams were…personal. 

Suddenly Kuroo had a wicked grin that made her very nervous. “So we just need to distract you from thinking about things, then?”

She eyed him warily. That look was too similar to the one often worn by the Weasley Twins. “I suppose that would work…”

“Good.” He nodded firmly. “I’ll come up with something, then.” She was about to question him as to what, exactly, he planned on doing when Kei dropped into place next to her, and Hinata next to Kenma, Kageyama and Yamaguchi soon following suit. 

“Kei-kun,” she began sweetly, “I’m told you gave away the apples I so painstakingly got for you this morning.”

Hinata’s eyes grew round across the table, apparently he at least knew the word for apple in English, but all Kei did was mutter, “Painstaking my arse.” 

She whacked the back of his head, then turned to Hinata, trying to explain, “I don’t blame you at all, don’t worry. I’m glad someone had manners and ate what was given to him.” She glared at Kei. He glared back. She sniffed, then turned back to her lunch. 

Kuroo was smirking at her from across the table, hand resting on his chin. 

“You’re cute when you’re riled.” Hermione went bright red. Bokuto burst out laughing, Akaashi sighed, Tsukki tsked at the back of his throat, and the three boys at the end stared at them with wide eyes. Kenma looked bored. 

All Hermione could think of, though, was a memory from a few months ago, when she and Ron had still been dating and he had said something similar. She stared at Kuroo, trying to come up with some response, when he suddenly clutched his head. “Shit.”

Hermione felt a throb in her temple and winced at the sympathetic pain. 

Tsukki mumbled something about it being impossible for them to act normal while Bokuto thumped Kuroo’s back, only making their predicament worse. 

“Ouch. Dammit, Akaashi! Stop kicking me!”

“You deserved it. You’re not helping things.”

“Eh?” He looked around and saw her glaring at him.

“Oh. Right. Sorry, Granger-san.”

“Eh? Why apologize to Granger-san?” Hinata was looking around at them, confused.

Tsukki’s head hit the table and he turned pleading eyes to her. “Is it too much to ask for you to be normal for just one second?” 

Hermione just rubbed her head in confusion. She had no clue what had happened. Kuroo slowly stood up. “I’m…going to go on a walk. Join me, Granger-san?”

She nodded, dumping her remaining food on Kei’s tray again. He sighed. Hermione paid him no attention, hurrying after Kuroo, who had already left the cafeteria. She hoped Kei found some way to cover for them. Or maybe Akaashi.

Kuroo wasn’t in sight, but she felt like she should go into the classroom from last night, which was an unnerving feeling. It was even more unnerving when she opened the door to see Kuroo sitting there, stewing over something. She quickly cast a silencio and notice-me-not.

“What’s going on? What happened?” She was so confused. All she could feel was confusion, from both herself and him, although his was slightly tinged with panic. 

“First off, I didn’t mean to do it.” Hermione blinked. That was… not helpful. She was more confused now than before. “You were thinking of him. Ron Weasley-san. He said something similar to what I said, right? I don’t know how, but I saw it.” Hermione froze. 

He saw her memory? They had been making eye contact, but he wasn’t a legilimens, he wouldn’t be so confused if that had been why he’d seen it… so he saw her memory without meaning to? Why? Why then? Why that memory? She sat down, absorbed in thought.

“Hermione?” She looked up sharply. He swallowed, clearly on edge but unwilling to show it. “I can call you that, right? In private?” He was…scared. Why? She shook her head. First answer the question, then deal with the emotions, then figure out what the heck had happened. Priorities.

“Yes. Of course,” she paused, “Tetsurou.” She blinked. Arousal. From his name? She knew calling someone by their first name was a bigger deal in Japan, but that was unexpected. At least it seemed to have overcome his fear.

“I…thought it might remind you of her…that woman. Because she looked into your memories like I did. But I hadn’t meant to, I swear.” Oh. He was terrified of triggering her memories of Bellatrix. That was…surprisingly sweet. 

She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, “I believe you.” 

His arms wrapped around her in return, and his voice was quieter when he spoke again. “I don’t know what’s happening to us.”

“I don’t know what’s going on, either, Tetsurou. I don’t know, and it frustrates me so much. I hate not knowing things.” There was a chuckle above her. She looked up at him. “But we’ll figure it out.”

“Of course, because you’re brilliant, and I’m brilliant.”

The door opened behind them, and she tried to jump free of his grasp, but Tetsurou tightened his arms. 

“You’re welcome for fixing your mess.” Akaashi’s voice. She relaxed. “Also, notice-me-nots only work when someone isn’t already aware of the room and specifically looking for it. Please remember that if you ever want to do more than hug.” Hermione blushed bright red and buried her face in Kuroo’s shirt. 

“I’m aware of that, thank you.” Her voice came out mumbled, but she didn’t really care at the moment. She could feel Kuroo’s chest vibrating from his soft laughter.

“You’re just jealous, Akaashi.”

“Of your chaotic relationship? Hardly.” 

Kuroo—no, Tetsurou snorted. “Because Bokuto doesn’t make your relationship chaotic.”

“Precisely.” Akaashi rolled his eyes, “I already have far more than enough chaos.” 

Hermione turned to face Akaashi, “What did you end up telling everyone?”

He rolled his eyes, “You know, it’s not easy to explain why Kuroo suddenly had a migraine like headache and Granger-san not only had sympathetic pain with that, but also with Bokuto’s pounding.” He sighed. “I told them you both hadn’t slept wall and Bokuto’s exuberance set you both off. Thankfully the two Karasuno idiots bought it. Yamaguchi-san wasn’t as easy, but he let it go when Tsukki confirmed my story. Kenma, of course, didn’t buy a word, but he also didn’t contradict me.”

Hermione sighed. “Wonderful, though it does make me doubt Hinata-san and Kageyama-san’s intelligence.”

Akaashi shrugged, “There’s a reason they’re called the Karasuno idiots, though occasionally Tanaka-san seems to be lumped in with them.” He looked between the two of them, “Do you mind telling me what happened?”

Hermione looked back at Kuroo, who shrugged. She didn’t know enough about this topic, so more thoughts on the matter would be helpful, she supposed. “Kuroo somehow saw a memory I was thinking of at the moment.”

“There was a lot of pain afterwards. We’re not sure what happened.”

Akaashi stared at the two of them. “That’s…not a common ability.” 

So he didn’t know anything, either. Hermione sighed and pulled out her mirror, tapping it three times and ignoring Akaashi’s curious look. Tetsurou trusted him. She would to. She might not be able to research, but she’d done enough of that in the past for her boys. It was their turn now. 

Sure enough, Harry’s panicked face picked up in seconds. “Hermione? What’s wrong?!” His glasses were askew, but he quickly fixed them. He’d been asleep? That was good, though now she felt bad for waking him up. 

“I need you and Ron to research something. Get Minerva and Kingsley to help if you must, or Ginny, George, Neville and Luna, but no one else can know, Harry. We don’t know what’s going on, and I’d rather be cautious.”

“Hermione, you’re making me really nervous here.” Brightness flooded the mirror, and Ron appeared at Harry’s side. 

“Blimey, ‘Mione. Harry’s the one that’s supposed to have emergencies. Not you. And I thought you brought the whole library with you?”

Hermione sighed. “I only brought one book on soulbonds. Ginny probably knows more than I do. Tetsurou certainly does, as do his friends.” She hadn’t though Akaashi’s eyes could get wider, but they did when she said Tetsurou’s name. Oh well.

Harry’s brow was furrowed. “You need us to research soulbonds? What happened?”

“Tetsurou saw my memory, then experienced brief, but extreme pain. Not unlike legilimancy, but it was completely unintentional. None of us know what could have caused that, and, quite frankly, the amount of abilities surfacing in our bond is a bit frightening, as well. We feel each other’s emotions and pain, Tetsurou saw my nightmares,” Ron and Harry both stiffened at that, “we have the beginnings of the ability to track one another, and now this.” Hermione frowned, “Tetsurou, Akaashi-san, and Bokuto-san all think that’s an abnormal amount, and I’m inclined to agree.” She bit her lip, “Ron, you grew up with this, what do you think?”

Ron sighed. “Ginny’d be the better person to ask. Let me go get her. I’ll get George, too. Who knows what he’s come across.” He left the mirror’s frame. 

Akaashi sighed. “I really should go; the matches will start soon. Kuroo, I’ll tell your coach that you came down with a migraine at lunch and are trying to sleep it off. If anyone checks your bed, though, you’ll have to come up with a further excuse.” Tetsurou nodded his thanks and his friend left the room. 

Harry raised an eyebrow at Hermione. “Letting more people see the mirror, Hermione?”

She sighed. “I’m really worried about this, Harry. Something doesn’t feel right. Like our bond is progressing too quickly, and with much more strength than it should have. And he’s trustworthy. He’s been friends with Kuroo for years.”

“So was Pettigrew.”

“Harry Potter this is hardly the fidelius and how dare you suggest such a thing.” 

Harry raised his arms in submission. “Sorry! Sorry. Just… worried, is all.”

“What’s this now? I could hear Granger screeching from the hallway.”

Hermione snorted. “That’s not important now. George, how much do you know about soulbonds?”

His eyebrow raised as his little sister entered the frame next to him, pushing Harry out of the way. “I know a fair bit more than most, I suppose. Not a very popular topic in Britain, you know, but we researched it back when we were making the love potions.” George grinned tiredly at her, “Women who are spoken for shouldn’t be waking up men in the middle of the night to ask them about soulbonds, you know. Congrats on that, by the way.”

Kuroo growled behind her, and Hermione just shook her head and angled the mirror so that the frame would show Kuroo peaking over her shoulder.

George burst out laughing. “Sorry, mate. Easy there. Just joking with her. Nice to see the face that’s stolen our Hermione, though. George Weasley at your service.”

“Tetsurou Kuroo.” His tone did not sound exactly forgiving, but Hermione wasn’t too worried.

Ginny burst in, “It’s nice to meet you, Kuroo-san!” She grinned happily, but quieted a bit when she continued, “I know mostly superstitions, honestly. So George will probably be more help. Of course, I’ll be glad to help if I can.”

Hermione nodded, then repeated everything she had told Harry and Ron. 

George’s brow furrowed. “You’re right, something’s definitely not normal. If I had to guess…” he sighed. “Kuroo-san, how powerful are you?”

Hermione frowned. Power again. She wished she knew more about soulbonds. The book Ginny had given her had been more about the customs of Britain than the actual bonds themselves. Tetsurou was nervous, but she couldn’t figure out why. He had felt tense last time Bokuto-san had mentioned power, too. 

“I don’t know, really. I just work with potions.”

George was watching Tetsurou carefully. As if he was aware of something Hermione didn’t know. “What was your accidental magic then?” Tetsurou stiffened. George backpedaled, “I know that’s a personal question, and I’m sorry, but it will give me some indication of your power level, which will help with the research.”

Hermione bit her lip, looking up at Tetsurou in confusion. What was going on?

“Fire.” His voice was tense. “I set a Jorogumo on fire. Then I held a wall of fire for hours.”

Hermione stared at him. “A Jorogumo?” she whispered. Those were bigger than most acromantula, probably the size of Aragog. Why had he been near one of those? She turned around and hugged him. He rested his chin on top of her head and relaxed slightly, but he still felt tense.

“I’m sorry.” George’s voice sounded weary. “That… makes a lot of sense, though. There was a book we found in the Room of Requirement. It said that if magic sensed one or both or the bondmates had been traumatized in some way, it would pull on their magic to make the bond stronger, faster. So the two would grow closer and help each other recover.” He paused. “Were you extra tired this morning?”

Hermione blinked. “Yes… we both just assumed it was the nightmares, though.”

“Partly, sure. But both of your magic is also most likely going haywire trying to pull you two closer.” George ran a hand through his hair. “There will probably be a few more of these types of bonds once people who went through the war start marrying.” His eyes flickered to his sister. “I’ll look for the book tomorrow and reread it; Dumbledore’s collection of books might have something, too, so I’ll ask Minnie dear to let me see those.” He grinned. “I’m always after an excuse to see ol’Dumbles books, so thanks for that.” 

He stood up and left the mirror’s frame, patting his sister on the head as he walked by. Ginny smiled nervously at Hermione. “Well. It sounds like we both should talk to our boyfriends. Talk to you later?”

Boyfriends. Hermione's brain stuttered over the word. She was not going to think about that at the moment, so she just nodded at her friend. “Who knows how crazy my evening will be, though, so I may skip the next time.” Ginny smiled her understanding, “Contact me as soon as you know something, though? I’ll find a way to slip out and be in private. Tetsurou will come if he can.”

“Of course.” Hermione heard Harry calling out a farewell, then the mirror went blank. 

Hermione sagged against Tetsurou’s chest. “At least we know why it’s developing so fast and strong, even if George still needs to research the particulars.”

“Your friends…” Tetsurou sighed. “You have ridiculously good connections, you realize that? I wasn’t anticipating finding an answer this quickly, let alone them declaring to just browse through Albus Dumbledore’s personal library. And don’t think I didn’t catch you throwing your minister’s name in as a potential contact.” Hermione blinked. Tetsurou was intimidated. She could understand that, to a degree, but it felt ridiculous to her. They were just people. 

“When you fight a war together, connections and bonds like that happen.” She turned around to look at his face, “Minerva and Kingsley would do anything for me, just like I would for them.” She laughed, “Though I admit to being startled when they asked for me to call them by their first names. I’m still getting used to that.”

Tetsurou just stared at her, then slowly nodded. Hermione bit her lip. She didn’t want to force it out of him, but his accidental magic… she did want to know the story about that. Especially since it was likely traumatic and thus part of the reason their bond was developing this way. 

Tetsurou sighed, sensing her mood and the likely cause of it. “It’s been a long time. I don’t mind talking about it.”

“Are you sure?” He was still awfully tense about whatever it was, and trauma when you were that young…it tended to bury itself deep. Or at least it had with Harry.

Tetsurou just nodded, though, his voice tight as he began to talk. “It happened on an elementary fieldtrip when Kenma and I were little.” Hermione smiled, the two really had been together for a long time. “Kenma was playing some video game and the teachers weren’t watching and he got separated from the group. I went after him. I saw it before I saw him. A Jorogumo. Kenma was just cowering, terrified. He wasn’t even making a sound. I just ran to him.” He hugged her tightly. “I didn’t know what to do, but I’d seen my mom cast incendio, and I knew spiders didn’t like fire, so… I tried that. I didn’t have a wand, but I just kept screaming the word over and over… it finally worked.” 

“I’m glad it did.” Accidental magic could be a fearsome thing, but it was unreliable. Tetsurou laughed softly. “I am too, but after that the obliviators came since Kenma’s non-magical and all. I didn’t know who they were, though, just that they kept trying to point their wands at Kenma. I was scared. I turned the fire into a wall, then hid behind it with Kenma. He was crying. Then my mom came. She told me later that the obliviators had finally figured out who I was and gone to get her.. She persuaded them that we would take Kenma under our protection and make sure he didn’t tell anyone about magic. It’s an uncommon practice, but not unheard of in Japan. The second they left the fire dropped and I fell unconscious. I stayed like that for days.”

Hermione hugged him tightly. At least she understood his relationship with Kenma a bit more, now. No wonder he told the boy so much about the magical world. He had wanted him to know that there were positive things, too. 

“That’s a horrible thing for any child to go through. You were brave. You did a wonderful thing, protecting Kenma like that.”

Tetsurou snorted. “Yeah, but at what cost? Sure the spider died, but I also cleared out a section of the forest. It’s still filled with charred remains, you know. And the people I burnt…” He wrinkled his nose. “No one should know what burning flesh smells like.”

“No.” Hermione shuddered, resting her head on his chest, “No one should.” Her mind flashed to the aftermath of the Quidditch World Cup. The bodies strewn about, some on fire. Their frantic search for Harry, looking at each body just long enough to be sure it wasn’t him.

“I don’t like using my wand.” Kuroo swallowed hard, “I hurt so many of the obliviators with the fire. I can still hear their screams. And then I almost hurt my mother…” his voice trailed off. “All my spells have always come out weak because I fear my wand so much.” Hermione understood that, but it still made her worry. It was a weakness one couldn’t afford with Lestrange on the loose. 

“I’d have liked potions the most, anyway, I think, but it has the definite benefit of not using your wand much.” He sighed, loosening his arms so that Hermione could step back. “I’ll learn protego, I know it’s important, but…it’ll be hard.”

“It’s a defensive spell.” She reached forward to hold his hand. “You won’t hurt anyone with it, only defend people.” He nodded and smiled at her. She looked at his eyes with concern. They still looked so devoid of life.

Suddenly Hermione saw a wall of fire. She saw the trees burning around them, smoke filling the air. People yelling and screaming. Some trying to stop the fire with aguamenti, but nothing was working. The whole time she felt so scared, but determined. Determined to protect the shivering bundle in her arms. Kenma. 

Blinding pain filled her head and she clutched it with both hands, groaning. Beside her Tetsurou hissed in pain. 

“Gomen. I saw…” 

Tetsurou just shook his head, still rubbing his temple. “I guess we’re even now.”

Hermione watched him carefully, but he really did seem fine about it. None of the panic from earlier. She supposed that really had all been because he had feared her reaction.

She cast a quick tempus. “Do you feel up for the second afternoon match? The first ones should be finishing around now.”

“Yeah, sure.” Tetsurou began stretching his arms out, “We have to try and act as normal as possible, and it’s hardly normal a captain to miss as many of the matches as I have.” He paused, “You still have that pepperup, right? I’ll definitely need it.”

She opened the bag, casting a wandless accio that had the two vials jumping into her palms. She passed one over and they both downed the slush in one take, then winced at the steam.

“You ready?’ Tetsurou’s smirk was back in place, but she could tell that he still felt a bit tired. That wasn’t good. The pepperup hadn’t had as much effectiveness as they’d hoped. There was nothing else to do about it, though, so she just nodded, and they left the classroom together. 

As they rounded the corner Tetsurou was rubbing his head gingerly, no doubt he still felt the aftereffects of the memory viewing. 

The Nekoma coach, however, was in the hallway and called out to them. Hermione was just glad they hadn’t been holding hands. 

The coach questioned Tetsurou in Japanese, something about where he’d been. His eyes flickered to Hermione. Obviously he had his own suspicions about his player’s whereabouts.

“I heard he had a migraine and I had some medicine in my bag, so I offered to get him some. He came with me since my rooms are closer to the gym and he could just walk from there to the match. He at least wanted to watch if the medicine didn’t kick in as much as we’d hoped.” She hoped the coach understood, but he was just looking at her, confused, until Tetsurou spoke again in Japanese. 

The coach motioned toward Tetsurou’s head, then asked something. Tetsurou nodded and grinned. Thank goodness Tetsurou had been rubbing his head a second ago, Hermione bet that was the only thing keeping the coach from being too suspicious of their story. 

Tetsurou turned to her, “He wants me in the next match, so I need to go ahead and get to the gym to warm up.”

“Have fun, then.” He grinned at her and ran toward the gym, his coach following at a more sedate pace. Hermione awkwardly waited a few seconds, not wanting to walk alone with the man. Thankfully it wasn’t too far of a walk. 

As soon as she entered the room, she could tell where Tetsurou was in the gym. The ability was unnerving, but his steady presence at the back of her mind felt comforting. She looked over at him and he gave her a smirk. Kenma, who was standing next to him, nodded at her. She nodded back, then hurriedly went over to Shimizu.

“Both you and Kuroo-san were missing again.” 

Hermione sorely wished she could come up with some reason as to why she had been missing, but in the end all she said was, “I wasn’t feeling well. Apparently he wasn’t either.”

“Right.”

Before she could say more, Yachi thankfully came bounding over with a clip board. “Granger-san, could you take notes on Nekoma’s serves this game?”

Hermione nodded and accepted the board, but internally she wanted to groan. Of course they would be playing Nekoma again.

Shimizu just laughed at her as the red team came over, Tetsurou in the lead. He seemed to be in game mode, though, because he was just watching Karasuno, eyes evaluating their mental states. Hermione rolled her eyes. 

The whistle blew and they all got into position. She did her best to mark the serves, but she didn’t know the different names of serves, so she just had to describe each one. It was easier to mark down where they were sending the ball, at least. 

Her eyes widened as Tetsurou blocked Asaahi’s spike all on his own, completely pushing the ball down to the floor. His eyes had looked… predatory. 

She quickly tried to push down her arousal, but apparently it wasn’t enough because Tetsurou just threw his head back in a laugh, then smirked at her. “Like that, babe?” Hermione blushed but glared at him. She could barely pick out Kei’s groans under Tanaka’s yells at Kuroo to flirt with his own team’s assistants. 

Shimizu snickered next to her, “So are you rooting for us or Nekoma?”

“Karasuno, of course.” Hermione paused, then raised her voice a little, “I think Kuroo-san’s pride could use a few hits.” 

“Oi!” There was scattered laughter, but it was Tetsurou’s turn to serve and he quickly sent it over the net, right at Hinata. Hermione sighed and made another mark on the clipboard as the ball went flying to the side. Hinata was quite terrible at receives, and Nekoma was definitely taking advantage of it. 

Three points later Karasuno finally managed to stop Tetsurou’s serves, and the game returned to its previous rhythm. They were in the 20s in points now, and Hermione could feel exhaustion beginning to creep into Kuroo’s emotions.

“How many matches do they do in an afternoon?” 

“Five.” Hermione swallowed at Shimizu’s answer. She changed her mind. She was rooting for Nekoma. The last thing Tetsurou needed right now was penalties. 

Tetsurou seemed to be thinking the same thing because he was becoming, if anything, more vicious on the court. The serves had circled back around to him and he had just sent two in a row straight at Kei (who was also apparently terrible at receives). Kei almost got the second one, though, so Hermione wasn’t surprised when the third went sailing toward Hinata…and then outside the court. Nekoma won. Hermione sighed. Tetsurou collapsed where he had been standing. 

Hermione watched him out of the corner of her eye while she was handing towels and water bottles to the Karasuno boys. Kei whacked her on the head. 

“Stop staring at him, weirdo.” He took the towel from her and began wiping off his sweat.

“I wasn’t—”

“Yes, you were.” He dropped the sweaty towel on her head.

“Kei-kun!” She yelled, but he was already jogging away. “Ugh. Boys.” All their towels were scattered across the floor. She sighed and bent to pick them all up. 

She blinked. Was that…arousal? She turned to where she felt Kuroo’s presence. He was sitting on the bench now, watching her. “Go on, keep working.” He made a shooing motion, his grin playful, “I was enjoying the view.” There was a prominent smirk on his face. 

Hermione glared at him. Unfortunately, she could only think of magical means of retribution, so she would have to settle for just the glare. She tossed the rags in the bin, then went over to sit next to him. 

He had apparently gotten an energy drink from somewhere and was chugging it down. She doubted that was advisable with the pepper up, but given that he was better at potions than she was… it was refreshing to be able to trust someone else’s intelligence. 

“You like the game?”

“Your serves kept targeting poor Hinata-san and Kei-kun.”

“Thought I saw you taking notes on that.” He tossed the can into their trash bag. “Yeah, but they deserved it, being that lousy at receives. Maybe I’ll help Tsukki with it tonight.”

Hermione wanted to lean against his shoulder, to touch his hand, to have some kind of contact. She could feel her magic churning, wanting the two of them to be closer. She sighed. In theory she was all for waiting to accept the bond until you knew a person, but this urging sensation was beginning to drive her insane. She knew they should at least wait until they heard back from George, though. 

She looked up to see Tetsurou watching her, “What?”

At first he shook his head, then he sighed. “Just trying to adjust to all this, that’s all.”

“That’s the truth.”

“Kenma’s being weird.” He rubbed the back of his neck, watching where his friend was talking to Hinata.

“How so?”

“He usually spends time with Hinata, but not this much. I can’t tell if he’s just trying to give us space or if he doesn’t like you for some reason.”

“Maybe try to take him aside and talk to him about it?”

Before he could respond, though, the whistle sounded, and he stood up to go prepare for the next match. “See you later, love.” 

The next two matches went similarly—including the fact that the other teams acted as if Hinata and Kei had targets painted on them for servers—and Karasuno lost both. Hermione sighed, she could tell it was really grating on both of their nerves. 

She could feel Tetsurou’s energy depleting rapidly. He was barely standing at the end of the final match, and his whole team could tell. Before she could say anything to him, though, he disappeared to the showers. Well, to the showers and she assumed to get a potion. How were they supposed to keep this up all week? It was only day 2.

She sighed, then finished up collecting the team’s gear for the day while Yachi and Shimizu went off to the kitchens. Most of the team had left to go practice, but Kei was sitting on the floor next to the bench, waiting for her. “How is he, really?” 

She looked around. It seemed like everyone else from the team had scattered and were already beginning to practice various things.

“He’s dead on his feet.” She shrugged, “He’s happy, a bit confused and frustrated, but mostly just exhausted.” She put the last of the empty bottles in its tray to be filled in the morning. “He mentioned that he might help you with receives tonight,” Kei perked up at that, not that she was surprised, “don’t push him into it if he’s too tired, please.”

There was a niggling sensation at the back of her head. She felt drawn somewhere…toward the cafeteria? She turned to Kei. “Can you eat dinner before the evening free practice?”

Kei nodded. “If you don’t mind lunch leftovers, yeah. Why?”

“I think Kuroo-san went to the cafeteria.”

“Tch.” Kei stood up, then put his hands in his pockets. “Let’s go, then. Can’t say I’m looking forward to leftovers, but it makes sense that he’d want to rest and refuel.”

Hermione looked over the area to make sure everything was in place, then followed after her cousin. Thankfully the cafeteria wasn’t far, and the sensation seemed to die down a bit once she started moving in the proper direction. She sighed in relief when Kei pushed open the door and she could see Tetsurou, whose head immediately snapped up to stare at her from across the tables. 

Kei sighed. “Go be weird. I’ll get your food.” She nodded her thanks, then rushed over to sit across from him. She felt something ease inside her when she sat down.

Tetsurou’s tray was piled high with food, mostly vegetables, fruit, and meat. He gave her a tired grin. “Yo.”

Now that she was here, she didn’t know what to say. It was odd to know such much about him, yet also so little. Well, she supposed she could start with fixing that. “Favorite movie?”

He laughed, a short barking sound. “I told you it was a good idea. Um…” He paused to bite his apple, “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen?” He nodded, “Why not, let’s go with that.”

“Really?” Hermione tried not to giggle at his odd choice, “Why?”

“It’s got fun references and makes me laugh.” He took another bite, “It appeals to my esoteric side and my fun-loving side.” He gave her a one-sided grin as she shook her head.

“But the references make no sense!” Tetsurou shrugged. “The world-building is atrocious and--” She gaped at the tray that Kei put in front of her. “What is this?”

“Your dinner. You’ve barely eaten the last two meals and he--” Kei pointed at Tetsurou, “is likely affected by any lack of energy that you have. So eat.”

Hermione just stared at the tray as Tetsurou snickered. Kei did make a good point, but 3 apples, 2 bananas, a container of cereal, a large helping of peas, three slices of ham, and two boiled eggs was quite a lot of food. A brief glance proved that Kei’s own tray had far less. “Can we switch?”

“No.”

Hermione groaned, but picked up her fork.

“Favorite movie?”

“What? Oh. The Wizard of Oz.” She grinned. “It appeals to my desire for the esoteric and makes me laugh.”

Kuroo smirked at her. Kei snorted. “You two are such dorks.”

Hermione stuck her tongue out at him.

“What’s your favorite movie, then, Tsukki?”

“Jurassic Park.”

Tetsurou burst out laughing and Hermione giggled. “Really?”

“What?” Kei slammed his fork into his own ham, “It’s a classic.”

Tetsurou waved him off, “sure, sure. We’ll go with that, Dino-freak.”

“It is!”

Tetsurou ignored him and turned toward Hermione, “favorite food?”

She smiled wistfully. “Chocolate éclair. My parents didn’t like sweets much, being dentists, but we would always get those whenever it was a special occasion.” She winced a bit at the awkward silence that created and took another bite of food. “Yours, Tetsurou?” 

Kei groaned next to her, “You’re already using given names?”

“Only in private.” Hermione gave the area around them a pointed look. “No one else is here, Kei-kun.”

“Still…” he sighed, but appeared resigned to their weirdness.

“Grilled mackerel.” Tetsurou ate another bite as he shrugged, “just tastes good.”

“Kei-kun?”

“Nope. I’m not participating in this anymore.” To emphasize his point, he put on his headphones.

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Fine.” She took another bite while she tried to think of another question. “When’s your birthday?”

“November 17. Yours?”

“September 19.” She grinned, “So I’m older then.”

“You’re just eighteen?” Tetsurou looked startled and Hermione laughed. “Yes.” She paused. Wait, did that mean she looked old? Wars did age people… “How old did you think I was?”

“It’s not that you look old!” Tetsurou was waving his hands in front of him. “It’s just…you’ve done so much. I thought you were nineteen, maybe twenty. That more of it… more of it had happened while you were of age.”

Ah. Hermione supposed that made sense. “Most of it happened before I was of age, really, even if the worst of it was after.”

She sighed. The mood was tense again. Why did she always kill the light mood? She stared at her tray, toying with the peas with her spoon. They were all that was left, and she was amazed that she had managed to eat that much. Maybe she was feeling Tetsurou’s hunger, as well? If that was the case, she hoped he could give her some of his metabolism. 

“Middle name?” 

Hermione blinked. “Don’t Japanese names not have a middle name?”

“So? You do, don’t you?” Kuroo picked up his last apple, tossing it from hand to hand before taking a bite. 

She nodded. “Jean. After my grandmother.” She paused. “Kei-kun’s grandmother, too.”

Tetsurou stretched across from her, then grabbed her bowl of peas and poured them into his mouth. Hermione wrinkled her nose at the lack of manners, but she was glad she didn’t have to eat them.

Tetsurou laughed when Kei glared at him. “She’s obviously full, and I get the energy this way, so no complaints, glasses." 

“Tch.”

“Come on, Tsukki.” Tetsurou stood, picking up both of their trays, “I told your cousin I’d help you with receives since I picked on you during the match.”

“Just so you know, I hate you both right now.”


	15. July 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

Her dreams that night were horrible. At first, she saw Kuroo’s nightmare. There was a huge spider meters away from him, charging toward Kenma. This time, however, she was in front of Kenma standing with her arms wide and glaring at the spider, but without any wand. Kuroo was screaming as he ran, screaming incendio, and then there was a horrible screech that filled the air as fire surrounded them.

The scene melted away, replaced by her own memories of the Quidditch aftermath. Then of seeing Harry dead in Hagrid’s hands, except this time he never moved and Voldemort killed Neville, as well. At that point she had woken up with a start, gasping. When she finally got back to sleep, it was Fred’s corpse that plagued her mind. Fred’s corpse and George’s sobs. Mrs. Weasley’s sobs. Ginny’s. Ron’s. 

Harry crying over the body of Remus.

She woke up with tears on her face. She wiped them aside. Light was beginning to shine through the window. She pulled out the cell phone she kept in the room. 5:30. It was ridiculously early, but people had started to stir yesterday around 6, so she might as well get up. It’s not like going back to sleep would make her feel more well-rested. 

She went about her morning routine, adding a shower since she hadn’t gotten one the night before. She and Tetsurou had stayed with Kei and Bokuto-san until right before curfew. The latter kept spiking balls at the former, with Tetsurou offering advice/mocking Kei. 

That done, she made her way to the empty classroom with her mirror and the day’s necessities, including several pepper-up potions, in her bag. She was surprised when she felt Kuroo’s presence in the classroom before she even got there. 

“Why are you here?” She closed the door softly behind her, then went ahead and warded it just in case.

“Couldn’t sleep.” He shrugged. They both knew why. “I felt you heading in this direction, so I decided to join you. Might as well see if they’ve found anything, right?”

Hermione nodded, then sat down next to him and pulled out the mirror. She tapped it three times and a chaotic room appeared with towering stacks of teetering books. “Harry?” She tried.

One of the stacks fell and there was a shout. She sighed. “George?”

“Coming, coming, Granger. Don’t get your knickers in a twist.” His face appeared on the screen. “Sorry ‘bout that. They gave the mirror to me since I’m doing most of the researching. Think they’re off working on the third floor at the mo’.”

“Have you found anything, then?”

“Right. Straight to it.” The image shifted as George sat down. “Glad you’re both here, because I’ve got some questions. Granger, you said Kuroo-san here saw your memories. Have you done the same thing with him?” She nodded. George just rubbed his chin. “Anything else happen?”

“We’re getting better at tracking each other. We tire extremely easily. Increased appetite. I feel a…pull, of sorts, toward Tetsurou. More shared dreams.” Hermione paused, glancing toward Tetsurou, “Anything else?” 

Tetsurou rubbed the back of his head. “I feel the pull, too. And…” here he blushed, “I can sometimes hear Hermione’s thoughts. I think it happens when she’s thinking about me, but not next to me.”

Hermione’s eyes widened, “What?” She whacked his shoulder, wincing at the pain it caused in her own. “And when, exactly, were you planning on telling me this?”

“It’s only happened twice!” Tetsurou jumped off the desk and held his hands up in surrender. “Once, last night, when we were both really tired and you were on the other side of the gym with Tsukki, but everyone else was at dinner. I thought I might have imagined it, it didn’t seem like the kind of thing you’d say with Tsukki and Bokuto around …” Hermione’s brow wrinkled. She honestly couldn’t remember what thought that had been, but it had probably been something appreciative about Kuroo’s arms. She blushed. “Then this morning…”

Hermione arched her eyebrow. That would mean within the past hour. “While you were showering. I think.” In the shower? But she’d been thinking about… oh. She went an even deeper shade of red. About what Tetsurou’s hair would look like wet. Not the most embarrassing thought, but still… Tetsurou wiggled his eyebrows. “I’ll show you later?” She glared at him. “Right! Totally wrong thing to say. You…um….can we talk about this later? I just didn’t know how to bring it up, alright? I was kinda hoping you’d hear one of mine, so we’d be even when we talked about it.”

“Even. Right.” Like with the mind-reading at the beginning. He probably was afraid of how she’d react, and rightfully so. She glared at him again. He winced. 

“I’m not doing it on purpose!”

George cleared his throat. “As… enlightening… as this argument is, and I assure you, I hate to give up good blackmail, can we return to the topic at hand? I assume you two only have so much time.”

Hermione sighed, George was right. She motioned for Tetsurou to join her again, which he did, albeit slowly.

“You two, my lovelies, appear to be bound by the seven-tier form of the ‘trial by fire’ soulmate bond. Basically, the bond for those who have survived trauma seven or more times.” Here he shrugged, “You’ll be able to figure out better than I which seven traumatic experiences were most impactful on you.” Lovely. “Basically, because you’ve had seven traumas, magic is balancing that with seven ‘blessings’ in the bond. By your own account you share emotions, pain, dreams, memories, location, and thoughts.”

“So there’s one more.”

George sighed, “the last is always a mark that will appear when you accept the bond.”

“A mark?”

“Like a muggle tattoo? It will be the same design for each of you and show up on the same place, but who knows where or what it will be.” He shrugged, “It’s supposed to represent the two of you as a couple, though.” 

So wait and see for the mark, basically, but there shouldn’t be any more surprises. “What about the pull we feel?”

“That will stop when you accept the bond. Until then, though, it will just grow stronger. You’ll also keep feeling tired until your ‘blessings’ are all in their final stage and you’ve accepted the bond. Once those things happen, your magic won’t be working so hard to make them happen, you’ll just both have a new status quo.”

“How do we know when they’re fully developed??”

“You’ll be able to consciously use them. Well, all of them accept three. Mark, pain, and location. You can’t turn those off, though you can mute them with a lot of effort and practice, according to some.” George waved a hand dismissively, “I’ve only been able to find theoretical things. I’m looking through Dumbles’ books for a first-hand account, though. Minnie thinks he had one.”

“Thank you, George.”

He sighed, “That was just the basics. When you accept the bond, which probably could just be done with a kiss, you’ll need to put up some powerful wards or everyone in the area will feel it. And if Bellatrix is trying to track you through magic…” a beacon of her magical signature was hardly what Hermione should be giving her. 

“What wards do we need?” Hermione was almost scared to find out. What if she couldn’t do one of them?

“Protega Totalem, Salvio Hexia, Fianto Duri combined with Imperturavi, and Repello Muggletum and Inimicum wouldn’t hurt.” Hermione nodded and relaxed, she could do all of those, though it seemed a bit much. “Then the hard part. You’ll need one item associated with each trauma.”

“What?” 

“I know, I know, it sounds ridiculous, but every source I’ve read agrees that for the magic to be contained, the blessings must come into contact with a source of the trauma. Unless they do, that blessing’s magic will wash past whatever ward you place. It’ll have to be seven different items, as well. You can’t let one item do double duty.”

Hermione frowned. That made absolutely no sense. Of course, magic was often like that.

“Can people work?”

“For the spell?” George frowned, thinking, “I don’t think so. Someone supposedly used someone else’s hair, though. The key seems to be that the object reminds you of the trauma.”

Hermione sighed. Tetsurou must be thinking of Kenma. Kenma’s hair might work, then, but she doubted Tetsurou associated it that strongly with the event… “fire.”

Tetsurou shivered. “Yeah, ok. Fire will work for mine.”

“Anyway, that’s something for you two to think about. I’ll keep looking around here. Try your best to do the protection spells, even though they’re a pain. With Bellatrix loose….” George shuddered. “The pain sharing thing… that goes to the extreme, you know. She’d take advantage of that. He gets hurt, you get hurt; he gets sick, you get sick; he breaks an arm, you break an arm, he gets a scar, you get a scar.” George paused, “With a bond this tight, Hermione, if he dies, you die. Don’t die, Hermione. I…” George looked away for a second, then back. “I can’t lose another sibling, alright?” He smiled tightly, then ended the connection.

Hermione sat back, suddenly exhausted despite the fact that it wasn’t even time for breakfast. George had given them a lot to think about. 

“I only have the one trauma, that I can think of.” Kuroo’s voice was quiet next to her. 

Hermione sighed. “Bellatrix, certainly. My parents’ memories. The final battle… those would be at the top of my list, but the other three?” She shrugged, “I’ve had a lot of things happen in my life that might be considered traumatic.”

“Maybe think about firsts, then?”

Firsts? That was possible. Those would certainly be key things, since they would make the later traumas less impactful. The first time she had feared for her life. “The troll.” The first time she had fought to protect someone else. “Remus.” The first time she had fought people, people intending to kill her, who thought of her as less than a person. “The Department of Mysteries.” 

Kuroo sighed next to her. He didn’t even know any of those stories. His hand closed around hers. “The first three, and hopefully the last three, then.” She nodded. They were as good guesses as any, though certainly the Tournament, the Quidditch World Cup, Gringotts, and her Petrification all counted as traumatic events, as well. 

Hermione pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around her knees. Tetsurou draped his arm around her shoulders. “We’ll figure it out, then…” he swallowed, “then we’ll do the spell. That will at least stop the tugging and let our magic focus on the more important things.”

“Do you have any troll snot?” Tetsurou snorted. 

“Not with me, no, but it’s a common enough potion ingredient, so I do have some at home. I have a lot of rare ingredients, even, since I’m studying for my mastery.” He shrugged. “I can call home and ask my parents to owl them to me.”

Potions ingredients… Buckbeak. Buckbeak had been there that night and fought Remus. And then she’d ridden a thestral to reach the ministry… “Hippogriff feathers or thestral hair?”

He gave her an odd look, “Yes.”

“Those will work for my first three items, then. The last three…” she shuddered. She still had Bellatrix’s wand, even if it was just sitting at the bottom of her trunk. She also had a picture of her parents. The final battle… she had nothing from nagini, or the chamber. “Basilisk skin or venom?”

Tetsurou stared at her incredulously. “That’s a bit beyond master’s level, you know.”

“But do you have it?” He shook his head. 

Hermione shrugged. It had been worth a shot. Something else… Ron or Harry’s hair would work, or even Neville’s, but they wouldn’t get here fast enough. Tetsurou needed to get rid of the extra drain fast or he would collapse in practice. Think, Hermione. What hurt the most about the battle? There was the chamber, Nagini, Harry, Fred, Remus, Tonks… the deaths. Teddy. She had a picture of Teddy. It would work. “I already have the last three.” 

“Alright.” He pulled his phone out and opened the text screen. “Troll snot, a hippogriff feather, and some thestral hairs?” She nodded, and he typed something out quickly before hitting send. “They won’t be able to send it until nightfall at the earliest—owls are too suspicious during the day and we are in a city.” Hermione nodded. She had figured as much. They would just have to make it through one more day.

“Come on,” he stood up and stretched, then held out his hand to her, “breakfast will be ready about now.”

They walked down the hallway in a comfortable silence. They got quite a few looks, but Hermione didn’t pay attention to them. She knew it was odd for them to already be together this early, but she couldn’t make herself care too much about keeping up appearances. At least they weren’t holding hands.

When they walked into the cafeteria together, Kei sighed when he saw them. She quickly grabbed some fruit and a bowl of oatmeal, then made her way over to him. “Can’t you two at least pretend to be normal?”

“Don’t ask for what you don’t want, Tsukki. You wouldn’t love us if we were normal.” Tetsurou winked at her cousin, who just banged his head on the table. Yamaguchi looked confused next to him, but greeted them with a tentative good morning.

“Good morning, Yamaguchi-san.” Hermione smiled at the shy teen. “Have you been enjoying the camp so far?”

“Eto… kinda? We are losing a lot, but my serve is better, so…” he shrugged. 

“You two ready to be slaughtered for another day in a row?”

“Shut up, you dumb cat.”

“Aww, Tsukki. And after I helped you so much last night.”

“You just shouted at me while Bokuto-san hit spikes at me.”

“Ah-ah-ah, I recruited Bokuto-san to hit those spikes at you.” Tetsurou smirked at her cousin. “And you were getting better toward the end.”

“Tch. Whatever.” 

“Is that where you went last night? To practice with Bokuto-san and Kuroo-san? Hinata was trying to find you. Something about continuing the three on three.”

Tetsurou sighed. “I was a bit tired for that, so we hid from the shrimpy.”

“Ah.” Yamaguchi eyed him carefully. “Are you feeling better today, Kuroo-san? You didn’t look so good yesterday.”

Tetsurou just bit into his apple and shrugged, “I feel a bit drained, still, but we’ll see what the day brings.”

Kei stared at him for a moment. “You’re going to collapse after lunch again aren’t you?”

“Eh?!” Yamaguchi looked between the two of them in alarm. “If you feel bad, Kuroo-san, maybe—”

“I’m not taking the freaking day off. I’ll rest for a match if necessary, but that’s it.” Tetsurou grabbed his last apple and stood up, “Come on, Granger-san. I feel like getting to the gym a bit early.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Am I just supposed to do your bidding now?”

“I wouldn’t want to deprive you of my company, love.”

“Right. It’s the highlight of my day.” She ignored the fact that it really was the highlight of her day. She stood up with her tray and follow him. It was just easier not to fight the bond’s pull. Or at least that’s the reason she told herself. She refused to acknowledge the wriggling suspicion at the back of her head that there was something more.

“Of course. Because I’m brilliant. And I notice that you are, in fact, coming with me.” 

“One of these days Kei-kun is going to beat you.”

“He’s good, but he’s a first year. I’m not too concerned.”

There was a quiet ding and Tetsurou pulled out his phone. “My mother got the text and will send the items tonight.” He slid his phone into his pocket. “One less thing to worry about, at least.”

“Tetsurou….” Hermione’s voice wavered as she tried to figure out how to ask her question, but then she just decided to plow through, “How much have you told your parents?”

“That I found my soulmate. That it’s you. The other things…my mom’s a bit overprotective since the fire. I’d rather not worry her. She’s probably confused about the items, but…” he shrugged, “I’ll explain later. Once there’s nothing for her to worry about.”

They had reached the gym, then, and people were already beginning to set up for the morning. 

“Watch me? I promise to win some for you.”

Hermione laughed, “You’ll try to win them regardless of whether I’m watching you. You’re too competitive to do otherwise.”

His smirk returned, “Too true. I notice you didn’t deny that you’ll be watching me, though.”

“I’ll be watching Karasuno. Taking notes.”

“Sure, love. And your eyes will never stray.” His smirk widened when she blushed, but apparently he decided to take pity on her because his next comment shifted the topic. “Let me know if Tsukki’s receives do any better? I’ll tell Bokuto to send extra spikes his way.”

“I’m sure he’ll appreciate your efforts.”

“More like curse me, but I’m nice enough to overlook it.” He gave her a wave, then headed off to his team.

Shimizu and Yachi weren’t there yet, so Hermione began to fill the water bottles on her own, trying to take her mind off of what George had told them. It was easier to accomplish that once the matches began. 

Their first was against Fukurodani, and Tetsurou had definitely upheld his promise and talked to Bokuto because whenever Kei was in the back row, chances were 2-1 that the owl would spike right to him. Until, of course, Karasuno noticed. Then he would switch it up for a few times before returning to his target. Kei was getting quite annoyed, and from his occasional glares over toward the Nekoma team, he knew whom was at fault. 

At least Tetsurou seemed to be playing well, though, from what she could see. As the morning wore on, though… she could tell he was lagging. It wasn’t anything obvious, at least. No sprained ankles. She could just feel his exhaustion building and his movements seemed slower. In addition, Nekoma lost two of the matches, resulting in penalties.

Hermione sighed, but cleaned up their area before lunch while the other girls went to help set up. It didn’t take too long, though, and she could that Tetsurou was already in the cafeteria, so she went to join him.

Tetsurou was once again sleeping at the table, his half-eaten tray abandoned in front of him, though he began stirring when she sat down. 

A tray slammed down soon after hers, though, causing him to look up and blink tiredly as first Tanaka, then Nishinoya set their trays down on either side of him. He sighed. “Can’t I guy eat in peace?”

“You--!” Tanaka yelled, then took a deep breath. “Stop flirting with Granger-san. She’s with Karasuno.”

Hermione blinked. Apparently he could speak English. She suspected they’d been working on whatever this rant would be for a while, though. She rolled her eyes, “Tanaka-san, Kuroo-san can flirt with me as much as he wants.” They gaped at her. 

“There you have it.” Kuroo smirked tiredly. “My attentions are clearly not unwelcome.”

“But-but you’re Tsukishima’s cousin!” This time it was Nishinoya who spoke. 

“And Kei-kun is friends with Kuroo-san, I don’t see you stopping that.”

“Leave me out of this.”

“Kuroo-san helps Tsukishima! We’re not idiots.”

Tetsurou snorted. “You’re idiots. Scram.” He pushed Tanaka’s tray away from him. “You’re being loud.”

Tanaka pulled his tray back, then said something in Japanese. Something about Tetsurou’s health and him not doing something well. Tanaka started shoveling food in his mouth, looking toward Tetsurou for an answer. Hermione wrinkled her nose in distaste at his lack of manners. 

Nishinoya said something, then, clearly agreeing with Tanaka, but adding something about Kenma doing well. Hermione frowned in frustration. She really needed to work on her Japanese more. Kei sighed next to her, no doubt frustrated about his teammates’ continued presence. 

Tetsurou’s eyebrow twitched. Whatever they’d said, it was annoying him. Had he not been covering this morning as well as she thought? It was true she was new to the game and probably wouldn’t notice everything…

“So I’m having a bit of an off-week. We’re still beating you.” He glared at them. Hermione appreciated the English, even if it took the other two a few seconds to respond.

Finally, Nishinoya laughed, spewing a few crumbs out of his mouth. “True, true!” He grinned at Tetsurou. “We will be better. Soon.” He grinned at them, then said something to Tanaka, picking his tray up as he did. Tanaka responded, and the two walked off to sit by Sugawara, who had been watching the whole scene closely. 

“Will you make it through the afternoon ok?” She felt exhausted herself and she honestly couldn’t tell where his began and hers ended. 

“Probably not.” He shrugged. “Kenma really is amazing. He keeps covering for me.” Tetsurou pushed the apple back and forth across his tray, then picked it up and bit into it. “I’m going to go get some vitamins from my room. See you in the gym.”

She watched him go, noticing that Akaashi pulled him aside for a moment, then let him walk away. It was just her and Kei at the table now, and when she turned back to her cousin he was watching her closely.

“Something’s not normal, is it?”

She shook her head. “We’re working on it, though. It should be a bit better after tonight.”

“Can I help?”

“No.” She paused. “We’ll probably miss the evening free practice.”

His eyes narrowed for a second, then he nodded. “I’ll pull Bokuto aside for receives again. We’ll tell everyone y’all are with us and have just stepped out or something if anyone asks.” She nodded her thanks, then yawned. Her eyes widened when she felt a burning sensation, then a bunch of energy flood into her veins. Tetsurou must have just taken the potion, but it felt like she had. That was…odd.

“You ok?”

She shook her head to try and rid herself of the leftover burning sensation. “Yeah, Tet-“ Kei glared at her and she sighed. “Kuroo-san just took some vitamins.” She hopped up from the table and grabbed her tray, “Let’s go ahead and head back to the gym.”

Kei stared at her incredulously. “You were exhausted a second ago.”

“And now I’m not.” She grinned at him, “Come on, let’s go.”

He rolled his eyes but got up. “Weirdos.”

The afternoon matches were endless. Five different games, and Kuroo was definitely lagging after the second. Remembering what had happened at lunch, Hermione slipped away for a second and took a pepper up. 

_I love that my witch is so smart._

Hermione blinked as she heard Kuroo’s voice, despite the fact that he was in the gym, and she was not. Did she just hear his thoughts?

When she got back to the gym Tetsurou sent her a grateful smile, then went back to playing. There was no sign that he knew she had heard him, but she hadn’t noticed anything whe her thoughts had been projected to him.

She looked at Kuroo’s scoreboard. Just a few more points and they would win.

They lost. 

Hermione watched with worry as Tetsurou ran outside to go do a sprint up the hill. Sure his energy should still be fine after the pepper up, but there were three more matches and it would only be safe for her to take one more pepper up that day. 

She turned her focus back to Karasuno’s match, which was almost over as well. By the looks of things they would soon be joining Nekoma on the hill, but at least the point gap was narrower than it had been Monday.

Hermione wasn’t surprised when Tetsurou immediately walked toward her when he came back in. Her whole body felt like it was pulling her toward him. He had messed up several spikes this last match, each time with his arm closer to her than it should have been in order to hit the ball properly.

“I can’t take this much longer.”

“Just three more matches.” 

His laugh was hollow as he collapsed onto the bleacher next to him. She handed him Kei’s fresh towel and water bottle. 

“Thanks.” He took the towel with only a slight pause, “Tsukki’s?” She nodded and he shrugged, then wiped off his face. “He’s going to be annoyed with you.”

“He can go steal yours.”

Tetsurou’s laugh was a bit more real, that time. “Yeah, that will go over well.” He chugged the water as Kei was coming back inside. It didn’t take long for her cousin’s eyebrow to start twitching.

“Why do you have my things?” 

Tetsurou shrugged. “Your bench was closer than mine and this angel was kind enough to provide them.”

The glare shifted to her. “You gave him my things.”

“He needed them.” She shrugged, “It’s not a big deal, Kei-kun. They were clean. Just go over to Nekoma and get his.”

“Tch.” He looked at both of them incredulously, then sighed. “You’re both disgusting and I hate you.” With that he left. As if the team had been holding their breath, everyone from Karasuno began laughing. 

Hermione smiled and shrugged, then sat down next to Tetsurou. He leaned back and rested his elbows on the bleacher row behind him.

Kenma was staring at them from across the room, but when Kei reached him he just held out a towel and water bottle. Hermione assumed they were Tetsurou’s. Kei stood there chugging the water for a bit, then slowly wandered back as he wiped his face. He collapsed on her other side. 

“I still hate you for that.”

“Of course Kei-kun.”

“You couldn’t have just taken the few extra steps, Kuroo-san?”

“Nope.”

“Tch. That’s actually probably true, the way you’ve been. Whatever.”

A whistle was blown for everyone to begin preparing for the next matches, so the three of them reluctantly stood up. Tetsurou wandered off without the towel, but Hermione was amused to see that he kept the water bottle. Kei just sighed in frustration. 

The third match seemed to stretch on forever, with Tetsurou stumbling several times, but thankfully Nekoma won. The fourth, however, was Karasuno verses Nekoma, and Tetsurou already looked dead on his feet. Hermione’s magic was driving her insane, despite the fact that they weren’t that far apart, and she knew it must be messing with him as well. Kenma was tossing spikes to him less, using Tetsurou more as an unexpected surprise to throw off the other team rather than as a main attacker. 

When the match reached points in the twenties, Hermione slipped out to the restroom, bag in hand. She quickly took the remaining pepper-up, feeling the energy burn through her veins. It would have to last him through the next match. As frustrating as it was, she didn’t know how the bond would affect the amount of potions they could take as a pair and she didn’t want to risk taking more.

When she got back to the gym Tetsurou was entirely focused on the match and his energy seemed significantly better. Shimizu gave her a confused glance, Hermione was sure the girl had noticed the odd coincidence between her departure and Tetsurou’s performance, but there wasn’t any way to directly connect them, so she wasn’t too worried.

The match soon ended with Karasuno’s loss. Hermione felt a bit bad for contributing to that, and Kei’s glare at her showed that he knew she had done something, but it really would be best for Tetsurou not to do the penalty. 

“Yo.” Tetsurou sat down next to her with a thump, then reached for Kei’s water. “Thanks for that.” She nodded but didn’t say more because Kenma was making his way over to them.

“Will Kuroo’s energy last through the next match?” Kenma was looking at her, not Tetsurou. Obviously he knew she had done something. Hermione sighed. She needed to be more subtle, but she wasn’t sure how to do that.

Teturou growled, “It’ll last. I’ll be done for the day after that.” Kenma eyed his friend for a while, then nodded.

“I’ll send the ball your way, then.” He paused, “You have a plan to get better?”

“Yes, Kenma. There’s a plan.” Kenma nodded again, then wandered over to where Hinata had just come bounding into the gym. 

“I hate this.” Hermione glanced back at Tetsurou. His head was in his hands and, even with the pepper-up, she could see the drain that both the exercise and the bond were taking on him. “I’m the captain, yet I’m struggling to keep myself together, much less train my team. I’ll be a bit better tomorrow, but there will just be two days left.”

She wanted to hug him, or at least hold his hand, but she knew that both were last than ideal actions in such a public arena. “You can make up for it when you get back. I’m sure Kenma’s watching the team and well aware of who is struggling with what.”

“There is that.” He shifted position to look across the gym at his friend, then rubbed the back of his neck. “Next week will be too late for them to practice while taking advantage of the matches, though.” He looked back at her, “Gomen. I know in the long run it’s not a big deal, but it’s something I care about.” 

The whistle blew and Tetsurou sighed, then went over to his team for the last match. Hermione felt her magic strain with each step he took away from her. She wanted to scream in frustration. They’d mentally accepted the bond, so why did this have to be so frustrating? She wasn’t rejecting Tetsurou, just trying to be smart and not create a beacon of magic that would lead Bellatrix straight to her. 

Tetsurou’s energy lasted through most of the last match, but he was clearly waning toward the end. Thankfully Kenma-san noticed. She was quickly becoming fond of the quiet, observant boy. 

Tetsurou jumped up to block Bokuto, but something went wrong.

Sharp pain spiked through her finger.

Tetsurou was on the ground. 

Her clipboard and pen hit the floor. Pain for pain, scar for scar. She didn’t need to look down to know that her finger was likely broken. She carefully covered it with her other hand, trying to avoid drawing attention to herself. 

The games halted as everyone turned toward the captain, who was still clutching his hand, Bokuto-san right next to him. 

She knew healing spells, but she’d never had to try them wandless, or on herself. But she had to act fast. As of this second only Bokuto had seen the wound, but that would change quickly. She muttered brachium emendo under her breath, clutching her finger with her hand and willing the spell to work. She felt a stab of surprise from Tetsurou. The pain dulled, but was still there. She tried again with the same success, but then Nekoma’s coach reached Tetsurou and she had to stop. Her finger still throbbed. Had she healed the break? 

_Such a brilliant witch. I could kiss her for that._

Hermione swallowed hard at Tetsurou’s thoughts.

She risked a glance down at her hand. It didn’t look broken. Maybe she had succeeded in healing the break? Every muscle and tendon still felt on fire, though, and there was blood around her knuckle. She bit her lip, then cast a wandless glamour on the finger to hide the blood and eventual swelling. It was weak, but she was surrounded by nonmagicals. It would do. She would just have to hide the pain from her face and reactions. 

Nekoma’s coach had apparently ordered Tetsurou to sit the rest of the match out, and Hermione felt his frustration mixing with his pain as he sat on the bench, but there was also…gratitude and a little bit of happiness. 

Hermione bent down and gingerly picked up the clipboard and pen. Kei was watching her, so she sent him a smile, though from his frown she suspected it looked strained. 

She kept taking notes, focusing on anything but the pain or Tetsurou’s eyes watching her from across the gym. Serve after serve she marked down where the ball was hit and what type of serve was made. 

25 points. Set. Hermione sighed in relief. Kei was making a beeline toward her, but in the end all he did was silently accept Kuroo’s water bottle. His eyes lingered on her hand when he did so, though. 

When Hermione went to start refilling the water bottles, though, Kei’s hand grabbed her shoulder. “No.” Kei strode past her and grabbed the bottles himself. “You’re hungry, right? I’ve got this. Go get an early dinner.”

Hermione debated arguing with him, but in the end, she decided it wasn’t worth it. “Thank you.” Nekoma’s game was still going on, so Tetsurou was still trapped on his bench. Trusting that he would be able to track her, Hermione headed toward the cafeteria.

She ducked into the bathroom on the way, though, and brought her wand out from her bag to run a diagnostic spell on her hand. Severe muscle strain and a snapped tendon, but no break. She sighed in relief. They could excuse it as a bad strain with an abrasion. 

She rinsed the wound off but didn’t heal it. Tetsurou didn’t know how to cast a glamour, so until she could make it look like he was slightly wounded she couldn’t heal their wounds. Injuries like this didn’t disappear in minutes. She sighed, then cast a numbing spell to at least relieve their pain. 

She was the first person in the cafeteria, but that was hardly a surprise. She grabbed an apple then went over to sit down. She did not want to deal with carrying a full tray at the moment. 

She had barely finished it when Tetsurou walked in, Bokuto-san hovering at his shoulder and Akaashi walking more slowly behind him. Tetsurou walked toward her, waving off the other two who went to the food.

He stopped across from her, rubbing the back of his neck with his good hand. “Thank you. How…?” He paused, unsure of how to ask the question even though there were only magical people in the room. 

She smiled tightly. “You’re welcome.” She shrugged. “Of the three of us, I was the best at healing. So I got better. I’ve never tried doing that discreetly,” i.e. wandlessly, “though, so it didn’t work completely.” She motioned for him to come around the table and sit next to her.

“You want to finish the job?” He walked around the table. “People saw.”

“I know, I’ll disguise it so that it looks a little injured still, but there’s no reason for both of us to to actually be in pain. You’ll just have to act like it.”

He laughed, then nodded his thanks and held his hand out. She pulled her wand out and let the table hide it from the view of anyone who entered. She quickly cast the spells, then used a glamour to mimic the abrasion that had been on the finger and to make it look slightly swollen. “There.” She wanted to sigh with relief as the pain eased in her own hand. She slipped her wand back into her bag. 

Tetsurou stretched his own hand and looked at it with wonder. “You’re really good at that.”

“I had to be.” She shrugged, unsure of how to respond to his honest appreciation and awe. Harry and Ron had always been appreciative, sure, but they had also always taken her for granted. Thankfully, Bokuto and Akaashi were approaching with four trays of food. They set two down in front of them. 

“Gomen Kuroo!” Bokuto wailed, but before he could get too far, Kuroo waved him off.

“It was my own dumb mistake, owl brain, and you know it. It was a good spike and I miscalculated your trajectory.” He grinned, “besides, I have an awesome soulmate and am already good as new.” The two eyed his hand, which still looked quite injured. 

“Glamour?” Akaashi asked. Hermione nodded and Bokuto whistled. “That’s a tricky one. It’s especially hard to fake injuries since you have to visualize the injury so realistically.” He grinned at her. “Nice.” His grin widened, and he got a mischievous glint in his eyes, “though fixing the break within seconds in a gym full of people without magic was even more tricky, I have to admit.”

Akaashi froze. “It was broken?”

“Twisted at quite a strong angle.” Bokuto nodded. “I was the only one to see it, though. Besides Kuroo, of course.”

“That was risky.”

“I know.” Hermione shrugged. “I also knew only Bokuto-san had seen it, though. I stopped as soon as someone else saw.”

Akaashi sighed but nodded. “I assume you healed your own hand, which in turn fixed Kuroo’s?”

Hermione nodded, but Bokuto’s eyes widened. “Man! I didn’t even think about that! I hurt you, too!” The boy began to sulk, but Hermione just laughed while Kuroo sighed.

“I’ve had far worse, Bokuto-san. Don’t worry about it, it’s completely healed now. Besides you didn’t mean to, so no harm done.”

Bokuto nodded sulkily. 

“Don’t bother, he’s going to sulk for the whole evening now, or until Hinata cheers him up with his hero worship.”

The door banged open and Kenma and Kei walked in, both looking a bit uncomfortable to be in the other’s presence. Hermione smiled at the two as they came over.

Kei sat down next to her, then immediately grabbed her hand and pulled at her finger.

“Hey!” She yanked her hand back while the others laughed. Even Kenma seemed amused, if a bit confused. “I’m fine now, Kei-kun. So is Tetsurou.”

Kei looked skeptically at Tetsurou’s hand, then shrugged. “Just checking.” He paused, “You did well. I don’t think anyone else noticed you were injured.”

“Thank you so much for your approval.” She rolled her eyes, though she appreciated his concern.  
Kenma sat down next to Bokuto, across from Tetsurou, and was staring at his friend’s hand. Tetsurou sighed and held it out to him. Kenma poked the finger, watching for any reaction from his neighbor. “It even feels real.”

Bokuto laughed, “Yeah, she’s good at them, that’s for sure.”

Kenma was frowning. “You healed him. At the gym. I was so sure it had been broken, Kuroo’s never reacted to an injury that way before. But then I got there and Kuroo was just holding it and cursing, not letting anyone see it… and then he did, and it didn’t look broken.” The boy looked down in thought.

Hermione wasn’t sure how to respond. given that she didn’t know how much Kenma knew, and given that he hadn’t asked a question. 

Finally he looked back at her. “Bokuto-san said you are good at that. At illusions?” Hermione nodded, hesitantly. Really the only illusion she was good at were those that related to wards and disguises, but that did cover a wide array of things that those without magic would call illusions. “And you’re good at healing. Really good, since no one saw you do that. I looked at you a second after Kuroo revealed his hand and you were just looking down at your own.” Kenma frowned. “That’s two things, not the usual one, but you’re not from Japan.” Tetsurou was wary, she could feel it, but everyone else looked confused. Why was Tetsurou wary?

“So illusions and healing. There’s been several times over the past few days that I’ve been looking for Tetsurou and not been able to find him or you, so you’re also good at hiding.”

Hermione was starting to understand why Tetsurou was wary. Kenma had been silent, waiting and observing, and now he was opening up. But why now? If she understood that, Hermione felt like she would understand more. Because she had helped Tetsurou in a way that Kenma had seen? But he’d noticed she’d been helping Tetsurou with his energy.

“Illusions, healing, and hiding.” Kenma cocked his head to the side, staring at her. “You rub your left arm a lot, you know.” 

Hermione felt like she had been punched in the gut.

“Kenma! That’s enough.” Tetsurou hissed at his friend. His hand was wrapped around her arm, as if it could help to hide the already invisible wound.

The scar. Her left arm…in England such an accusation would be calling her a Death Eater, but no one would ever do that. She closed her eyes, forced herself to take deep breaths. 

“Woah! Woah there, Kenma. You don’t just say that. That has implications, ok? This is Hermione Granger! You especially don’t say that about her.” Bokuto was waving his arms around frantically. Kei was standing next to her, about ready to punch Kenma, but Akaashi was holding him back.

“I don’t understand!” Kenma was shaking his head in frustration. Everyone stilled. 

“What don’t you understand?” Hermione tried to keep calm, tried to control the self-loathing about her scar, the terror of Bellatrix, the revulsion and self-righteousness. Kenma did not have all the information. He was smart, but he only knew pieces of the war. He did not know her name. 

He was terrified of magic. 

It was the last thought that calmed her completely. She took a deep breath and let it go. “You want information, right? You don’t know what I can do and you don’t want me to hurt your friend.” She smiled softly. “I can understand that.”

Kei sat down with a thud and Tetsurou sighed next to her. Akaashi relaxed, but Bokuto was still incredulous. “You fought in the war to fight those guys and he all but accuses you of being one of them, and you’re this calm?”

“She’s not calm.” Tetsurou’s hand hadn’t left her arm. He could feel it trembling. Could feel her frustration, anger, worry, and fear.

“I know what it’s like to be concerned for a friend.”

Kenma was frowning again. “Kuroo told me a while ago that there was a war in England. That there were wizards seeking help abroad, and later fleeing abroad, who had a mark on their left arm and would try to kill me because I knew about him. That the ones who were left were strong and knew lots of magic because England only taught magic, not non-magical subjects. You hide your left arm. You’re good at things like illusions and hiding. Deception. You’re strong. But Kuroo thinks you’re his soulmate. But the things that have been happening… they’re not normal for soulmates. Not what Kuroo told me would happen. Not what Akaashi-san or Bokuto-san have expected. Kuroo’s been pulling away from all of his friends. He’s… his left arm is bothering him.” Hermione’s eyes widened. The curse scar was affecting Tetsurou? Kenma paused, watching her. “You didn’t know that.”

She turned toward Tetsurou, horrified. Her soulmate was staring at the ceiling. His emotions were turbulent, conflicted. “Kenma, you have always been way too observant.” He turned to Hermione, “It’s fine, ok? I’m fine.” He sighed. “You heard Weasley-san, right? Scar for scar.” He smirked, “You’re just lucky I don’t have any already.”

“But…. I thought that would be for wounds after the bond…” Not to mention, “You’re not even…” He wasn’t a mudblood. She didn’t know if he was pureblood or not, she didn’t care, but he had told her his mother could cast incendio, so he was halfblood at the least. Words failed her. How could he be so blasé about that word slowly appearing on his skin? Now that she was looking for it, she could see a faint rash on his arm exactly where her own scar was. Her eyes flickered to his neck. There too. She glanced down, but reminded herself that his shirt would hide his chest. She never bothered with a glamour to hide her wound from Dolohov. She swallowed hard.

“Aha.” Kuroo had been watching her carefully. “I was wondering about those. Stories for another time?” 

“Tetsu—I—”

A spark of arousal. Startled, she stopped talking, then stared at him incredulously.

“Keep calling me Tetsu and I don’t care how many scars you give me.” His smirk should be illegal.

Hermione groaned. 

Kenma sighed in frustration. “Kuroo likes you. I would be stupid not to see that. But Kuroo’s stupid sometimes, and so is Bokuto-san, and Akaashi has to keep track of Bokuto-san so he can’t notice everything.” 

“Kenma…” Tetsurou’s voice was a frustrated growl. “You’re being a tad overprotective, don’t you think?” Bokuto was sulking again across the table, but Akaashi was rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. 

Hermione shook her head. She recognized so much of herself in Tetsurou’s best friend. The desire for knowledge, the need to protect, the accumulation of knowledge for that goal. “It’s fine, Tetsu. You’ll have my overprotective friends to deal with, after all.”

“Don’t remind me.” He groaned and hit his head on the table, though softly. “Fine. Deal with the over inquisitive gaki.” 

Kenma ignored his friend and focused on her, cocking his head to the side. “Something’s gone wrong. I know that. What I couldn’t tell is if you were causing it or not. But today you helped him. And you seem to be helping him with his energy, or trying to at least. So I think you’re a good person. But I don’t understand all this. I don’t understand why you hide your arm and why you’re so secretive when those are the things most likely to make you seem suspicious.”

So he didn’t think she was a death eater, but he thought she was acting like one and was confused as to why. That was understandable. From his perspective he had certainly observed some suspicious things. 

“I fought in the war Tetsurou told you about. I was hurt.” She wrinkled her nose in distaste, “It’s rather personal and most don’t know about it, so please don’t push me on that subject.” Kenma would need more, though. Something to assure him she wasn’t faking. Facts. “Only ten people have seen the scar on my arm.” She took a deep breath. “Three are dead.” Remus had killed Greyback and the elder Malfoys had been kissed, which was close enough. “Three saw it happen.” Harry, Ron, and Draco Malfoy. “Then there’s the person who gave it to me,” unfortunately not dead, “the person who tried to treat it.” Bill. “I let Kei-kun see it by accident, and the last person is Tetsurou.” She paused to let it sink in that the only person she had shown it to willingly was Tetsurou. “I’m good at illusions because I’ve had practice hiding my arm, as you correctly deduced.” She shrugged, “I’m also good at them because it was a war and we either hid or died.” 

“Ok.” Kenma slowly nodded. “And the bond?”

Hermione sighed, trying to figure out how to word this with so many people present. Kuroo hadn’t told them of his past with Kenma, and that was his business. Her past, though… “Magic doesn’t like trauma. I’ve been through a war. It’s trying to draw us together so I can heal. It forces us to share dreams, memories, thoughts, all in order for us to grow closer and to work through the past with each other. The more magic we have, the more forceful the bond can be.”

Kenma’s eyes widened. Unlike Bokuto, Kenma knew exactly how powerful Tetsurou was, along with the fact that she wasn’t the only one of them with trauma. He was quiet for a second, then looked up and made eye contact with her, direct and earnest. “Arigatou gozaimasu.” 

Hermione sighed in relief at the acceptance. 

Kuroo snorted. “You better thank her, you meddlesome brat.”

“No more questions.” Hermione smiled at Kei’s abrupt command. “She needs to eat. Energy helps.”

Kenma frowned. “Can I ask Kuroo questions, then? It’s rare to have a moment alone like this while at camp, but we probably have another ten minutes before people get here.”

Kei rolled his eyes. “By all means.” 

Hermione laughed and picked up the fork to begin eating the carrots in front of her. Tetsurou’s mood was content and had lost its sharp edge. He wasn’t wary anymore, so she could relax.

“Coach thinks you’ve gone crazy over her. I heard him muttering about how he should have known you’d fall bad when you finally did since you’d been avoiding girls all during high school.”

“So he thinks I’m so distracted by a crush that I’m not paying attention, or sleeping well, and consequently playing horribly?”

Kenma nodded.

“Well that’s hardly flattering, but for the best, I suppose.”

“Just thought you’d want to know. The whole team agrees with him, by the way.” He paused, “They’re hoping that since you hurt yourself you’ll snap out of it a bit, but they were hoping that when you sprained your ankle, too.” He shrugged, “Not that that injury lasted long. This one will have to last longer, you know.”

“Yeah.” Tetsurou waved his hand around, “Thus the illusion.”

“Some of them are upset that you haven’t been helping the team, just disappearing with Tsukki and Bokuto, even if they are also amused at your method of sucking up to your crush.”

“I’m not--!” Kuroo stopped himself. He supposed he kinda was, even though it had started just as an excuse to hang out with her. “Oh, whatever. I knew they were probably mad at me. I’ll make it up to them.”

Kenma nodded. “Not tonight though?”

“No. I have the ‘injury’ and other things to do.” Kenma’s brow furrowed, but Hinata chose that moment to bound through the doors.

“Kenma!!!!” He squealed and ran over to them. He let out a long string of rushed Japanese, but Hermione managed to pick up enough to know that he wanted Kenma and Bokuto to help him practice. 

“But Shouyou, I haven’t finished yet.” Kenma pointed at his tray. 

“Eh…?” Hinata rattled off something in Japanese, probably about how it would be better to wait for dinner anyway. 

“Yes, we know.” Kei picked up his tray, then Hermione’s empty one. “Bokuto-san promised to help me tonight, Hinata.” Bokuto was about to contradict this, but Akaashi covered his mouth.

“Eh?!” Hinata looked back and forth between Kei and Bokuto, seemingly ignoring Akaashi’s hand. “Naze?”

“Because.” 

“EH?!” Now Hinata appeared even more confused. Hermione heard Kenma sigh. 

The setter stood up and stretched, mumbling something under his breath, but all she caught was Lev’s name. It made Hinata happy, though, so it had probably been a promise to practice with him. 

“Yosh!” Hinata bounded out, followed by a dejected Kenma and Kuroo’s laughter. 

Akaashi finally let go of Bokuto’s mouth. 

“What the heck was that about? I did not promise to help Tsukki.” He quickly backtracked, “Not that I mind, Tsukki, but clearly Kuroo’s your main senpai and…” Bokuto looked down, dejected.

“Obviously Kuroo-san and Hermione-san have something they need to do tonight. I’d feel better if someone knew what they were doing, someone with intelligence…”

“Oi!”

“…so Akaashi should be with them. But people will ask why they can’t find them, so” Kei shrugged, “we tell them the five of us together. But for that to work no one else can be there.” 

Bokuto blinked. “So where are we practicing then, if no one’s supposed to find us?”

“The track.”

“We’re running?”

“No, just practicing there.” Kei’s eyebrow was twitching.

“What are we practicing outside in the dark?”

“Receives.”

Bokuto laughed. “At least you suck at them, so people might believe it. Come on, Tsukki.” 

After the two of them left, Akaashi turned to Hermione and Kuroo. “So? What idiocy are you up to that Tsukishima-san believes needs my presence?”

“We should be fine, really, but it would be helpful to have someone nearby to confirm nothing went wrong. And runic wards would be nice.” Akaashi raised an eyebrow.

“You do realize how detailed those need to be?”

“If you’re not capable we should be fine, like I said.” 

Akaashi’s eyebrow twitched. “I’m capable.” Tetsurou laughed. 

“Would you go ward the classroom then?” Hermione smiled sweetly at Akaashi. “Something to contain a magical backlash? It would be helpful if it had seven connecting points.” Akaashi’s eyebrow twitched again. 

“I’m beginning to suspect you could do this yourself.”

“Me?” Hermione waved her hand in denial. “Hardly. I’m great with spell wards and can incorporate runes into them, but I never had time to do a detailed study on creating runic wards from scratch.”

“Fine.” Akaashi sighed. “At least tell me what you’re going to be doing, first?”

Tetsurou smirked. “Haven’t you guessed, Akaashi? There’s only so much a couple can do to lesson the strain of a developing soulbond. We’re going to accept it.”

“Congratulations, then, I suppose.” Akaashi paused, his tone becoming significantly more caustic, “However, that doesn’t usually require elaborate wards.”

“We’re special.”

Akaashi rolled his eyes. “That much is obvious.” He paused, “I’ll do the wards, but what will you two be doing while I create them?” 

“We’ll get the items that we’ll need to place on the seven runic cornerstones.” 

Another eyebrow twitched. “You realize seven-cornered wards are the most difficult?” He sighed, running his hand through his hair. “I guess it’s good practice for the mastery, but it may not be perfect since you’re making me do this on the spot. See you there.” He trudged off in the direction of the classroom, grumbling under his breath. 

“You’ll be fine on your own while I go accept the owl?” Tetsurou checked his watch, “It should be waiting outside somewhere, now.” 

Hermione nodded. “I’ll just be going to get some things from my suitcase. See you there.” She turned and walked through the hallways. She passed several players, but thankfully no one from Karasuno. A few that she thought were from Nekoma giggled as she walked by. Oh the joys of high school gossip. 

When she reached her room Hermione quickly found the two photos, but was slower in pulling out the third. If anything else would work…the wand stared back at her and memories flashed through her brain. She shuddered, but picked it up and put it in her daily purse. She didn’t like how right the wand felt since she had won it, yet how wrong it felt due to its past with dark magic. She wished that she could break it, like Harry had with the elder wand, but having Bellatrix’s wand in the past had proven useful and who knew if it could be again. She couldn’t throw away a resource like that, no matter how vile it might be. 

Kuroo was already in the room when she got there, leaning against the back wall and watching Akaashi as he sat at a desk, calculating something. He looked up when she entered. “You said at dinner that the bond is stronger because of your trauma. That’s why there will be a backlash, right?” Hermione nodded. “Ok, and then the items…” he paused, thinking, “they’re related to your trauma, right?” 

Again, she nodded. “Our source told us that since we have yet to overcome the trauma, they will overcome the backlash and hold it at bay. I’ll be casting spell wards on top of them, of course.”

“Right. It would probably be best to have two layers of wards, just in case. That way if the backlash overcomes the items, my runes will hopefully contain it from spilling out further. We’ll set the runic centers about a foot outside your wards.” 

“Gomen, but…” he sighed, “what items are you using? Kuroo told me the first four, but for the runes to be precise it would help to know the other three, as well.”  
“Two photos, one wizarding and one muggle, and a wand.”

Akaashi frowned. “Can I see the wand?” 

Hermione closed her eyes, then held her hand out over the bag. She always had more than one wand on her now, just in case, so… “accio Bellatrix’s wand.” 

Kuro’s emotions shifted drastically at the name, his eyes narrowing at the wand in her hand. She passed it over, handle first, to Akaashi. He took it gingerly, then his eyes widened. “You won this wand’s allegiance.”

“Yes.” Hermione wasn’t going to elaborate, though she was curious how Akaashi could tell.

“Gomen.” He sighed, handing the wand back to her, “elements within wands are often held together by runes, so I needed to determine which ones would align with it.” Well that was fascinating. She would have to pick his brain about that later. 

Akaashi stood, then walked around the room to inscribe seven runes in the wooden floor around the perimeter. No doubt he would just fix them with a reparo when they were done. 

“Set the wand here.” Akaashi pointed and she followed his directions, setting each of her items next to the three runes. Tetsurou set the next three down, then she cast the final incendio. The word resulted in a brief flash of wariness within Kuroo, but he quickly pushed it down. Hermione sighed. The quicker they got this done the better. She began casting the wards, watching as they coalesced around them and merged together into one layer. She felt exhausted afterward and slumped against Tetsurou. Normally it wasn’t nearly this draining, but the constant drain of the bond left her with magic that felt like it had been stretched too thin. “It’s done.”

Akaashi nodded, “My wards should let me know if something happens, but just in case they don’t I’m going to come back in five minutes.” 

“Alright.” It was a reasonable precaution, but if anything did go wrong it would be over in seconds, not five minutes. Not that what they were doing was risky in and of itself, though. No, the risk would only be if the wards didn’t work. Akaashi didn’t need to know that, though. Not unless the wards failed. If Bellatrix was scrying or doing anything to search for Hermione’s magic, it would still take a while for the fugitive to get to Japan.

Akaashi left the room, leaving her alone with just Tetsurou. Hermione bit her lip. She knew this was the logical decision to make, but it still felt like everything was happening much too quickly. She turned around and looked at Tetsurou. Beyond the exhaustion he felt… determined. Determined and happy.

She just felt scared and unsure. 

Magic said they were perfect for each other, but…she hated divination. She hated prophecies. They had always led those she loved to destruction, not happiness.

Kuroo took a step toward her. “We don’t have to do this.”

“Please.” Hermione was surprised at how choked up her voice sounded. She took a deep breath. “You’re falling apart, Tetsurou. This is the logical conclusion to the events we’ve faced. Both of us can’t handle this magical exhaustion for much longer.”

“No...” He paused, setting his hand on her shoulder, “but we could talk for a bit. I can poke my head outside and tell Akaashi to go fuck himself with his five minute time limit.”

Hermione gave a short laugh. “No, no. The time limit for safety’s sake is good, even if the chances of this going that catastrophically are slim.” She paused. “It’s just…accepting the bond is a big deal.”

She looked up at Tetsurou, studied his face. His ridiculous hair. He wasn’t smirking, for once, and his eyes showed only concern. For her. He was absurdly handsome. She knew it, but it had felt so odd that her soulmate was handsome that she had almost refused to acknowledge it. Refused to acknowledge how someone like him could possibly be a match for a bookworm like her. A bookworm whose best friends had taken forever to realize that she was a girl. 

Tetsurou took a step closer to her and she swallowed. “So you want to do this, then? You aren’t doing this because you feel cornered?”

“I do feel cornered, but this is the best thing to do.”

“That won’t do at all.” Tetsurou reached up, pushing her hair behind her ear. “Here we are, surrounded by items that are traumatizing to us both.” He lifted his shoulders as if to shrug, “Not the most romantic spot, but we’ll do better next time.”

“Next time?” 

Tetsurou smirked. “I’ll take this as slowly as you want, Hermione. Whenever we kiss each other next is your call but…” he leaned down, then whispered in her ear, his hands caressing her arms, “I hope it won’t be too long.” 

His breath was hot against her ear. Goosebumps spread across her skin and she blushed at his attention. “Tetsu, I—”

His mouth was on hers. She could feel his emotions swirling through her. His desire. He could probably feel hers. She felt the magic swirl around them playfully, rejoicing. She opened her mouth and let a small moan when Tetsurou pulled her tight up against him and he used that to slip his tongue past her lips. It was clumsy and new, but it felt so right that she never wanted to stop. Her magic was singing around her, alive and coursing through the both of them. 

Slowly, Tetsurou pulled away, then rested his forehead against hers, panting slightly. “I meant what I said, you know.” He closed his eyes tightly. “We’ll take this at your pace. I know you’re not certain about this whole thing, and I’m sorry we had to do that before you felt truly ready.”

Hermione wrapped her arms around him, tucking her head under his chin. “Thank you.” 

She lost track of time of how long they stood there, hugging, and she didn’t even notice when Akaashi entered. Apparently Tetsurou didn’t either, because the next thing she knew they were both soaking wet and staring at the tip of Akaashi’s wand. Hermione felt chagrinned.

“Some of the backlash hit my wards, but I’m positive nothing went through them.” Akaashi’s eyes swept over both of them. “Despite your initial lack of response, you both seem fine.” He smirked. “Again, congrats and all, but try not to be so oblivious in the future.” He shook his head. “I’m going to go update Bokuto and Tsukki and join their practice. I don’t know what you two plan on doing, but you’re welcome to join us. Please clean up the room first, though. I’ve already dismantled the wards.” With that he turned out of the room, the door snapping shut behind him. 

Hermione shivered, then cast a drying charm on herself. “Did he have to douse us with water?”

“I don’t know why you’re complaining, you did want to see what my hair looked like when wet, after all.”

Hermione laughed, blushing lightly, and turned around to face him. She immediately giggled. “You look like a drowned cat.”

“Oi!” Tetsurou looked affronted. Hermione started giggling harder. “I don’t know what the girls back home were talking about. They always said water made guys’ hair look dreamy, but yours just looks bedraggled.” She was laughing harder, now. 

“Oh, is that how it is, huh?” Hermione nodded brushing a tear from her eyes. It wasn’t that bad, really, but it also wasn’t ridiculously handsome like all the girls had sworn about. The way it stuck to his neck was certainly nice, but it was so lopsided to begin with that when it got wet it was rather humorous. 

Tetsurou’s smirk widened dangerously, and Hermione only had a few seconds to back up before he tackled her, causing them both to fall down and lay sprawled out on the we ground. He rolled over so that he was on top of her. 

Hermione gulped as her throat went a little dry. “Tetsu…” Her voice trailed off at the intense look in his eyes and the way his hair hung down, framing his face. Maybe the girls hadn’t been too wrong after all.

Tetsurou smirked, no doubt feeling her arousal, but he slowly pulled himself back and stood up, then held out his hand. “I’ll kiss you again whenever you want, Hermione. But you have to say that you want it.” She nodded numbly, then reached up to take his hand. She had certainly wanted it a second ago, but he was right, she would have second-guessed herself afterwards. They had only known each other a few days. She needed time.

She cast another drying spell on herself, then on the floor. When she looked toward Tetsurou to do the same for him, she noticed he was looking oddly at her. “What?”

“Do you remember that George-san said we’d have marks after we accepted the bonding?” She nodded slowly. “Well your sleeves are shorter than mine, and on the back of your shoulder…” He swallowed. “It doesn’t look like it’s a small mark.”

He began to take his own shirt off, and sent her a small smirk when he felt the spike in her arousal. She couldn’t help it—he was handsome and fit, and according to her magic, her perfect match. “You sure you want to go slow?”

“Yes.” Her answer was tight, but she made sure that her voice was firm, even if he was ridiculously attractive. She gasped when he turned around. 

On his back was a dragon. She couldn’t identify the species, but it looked similar to the Chinese Fireball that Viktor had faced, with a long and thin body and gold spikes all around its face. It was mainly black, though, except for the gold ridges and bright red eyes. Its gold tail wrapped around Tetsurou’s shoulder, then the body flowed and curled down his back before rearing back up toward the middle. The head was placed in the middle of the back, its eyes staring straight out and its mouth open, as if it were about to breathe fire at her. 

“Well?”

“It’s…” She couldn’t describe it. “Geminio.” The image duplicated itself into the air beside Tetsurou. He whistled. 

“ _That’s_ our mark?” She nodded numbly. “Well that’s certainly impressive. And not at all what I was expecting.”

“What were you expecting?”

“A black cat or lion or something, not,” he waved his hand at the air before him. “Jeez.” He grinned at her, “If our mark is a dragon, does that mean that I get to keep you hoarded away in a tower?”

“The mark represents both of us, smart one. We’re both the dragon.”

“That’s your interpretation.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “We’ll have to use a glamour to hide it for now. It would be very odd for the two of us to suddenly get matching tattoos overnight, especially ones of this magnitude.”

“Yeah.” Tetsurou was still staring at the dragon. 

Hermione sighed. “Do you mind if I go ahead and hide yours?’ She pointed her wand at his back.

“What? Oh, yeah. Shame though. It’s so beautiful.” His voice was almost awe-struck. “It doesn’t deserve to be hidden.”

Hermione agreed with him, but she cast the spell nonetheless, then dried him off while she was at it. He shook his head and his hair fell back down into its usual bizarre shape. She sighed. He had even worse hair than Harry. 

She had to conjure a mirror so that she could do her own shoulder. It was a bit tricky, but she managed to hide the tail that was peeking out from under her shirt. 

Hermione summoned the items into her purse, then noticed that the engraved runes around the room had already disappeared. How out of it had the two of them been? She remembered the warm feeling, as if they had been encased by their magic… but she hadn’t even realized that Akaashi had erased the runes.

Tetsurou sighed, then pulled her close to his chest, hugging her. “Do we have to go join the others? I don’t really want to move right now.”

Her own exhaustion was beginning to creep back, and she knew what he meant. All she wanted to do was go to bed. She said as much, and she felt Tetsurou’s rumbling laugh through his chest. She could just stay like this, she supposed. It was comfortable enough. She closed her eyes, and darkness crept over her.


	16. July 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

“—san, Hermione-neesan!”

Hermione sat upright with a bolt, panting and drenched with sweat. Her wand. The holster wasn’t on her wrist. She’d moved it to her hip. Right. She struggled to reach it, tried to yank her hand free, but she was held firmly. “Neesan!”

Kei. 

She froze.

Why was Kei here? She looked around. She was in a classroom. The one that had been cleared out for the girls to sleep in. Everyone looked alarmed. Kei was closest to her, holding her wrist tightly so that she couldn’t get to her wand. There was blood coming slowly from his nose.

She heard footsteps running down the hall; the door slammed open and Tetsurou looked in. Shimizu threw a pillow at him. 

“Gomen!” Tetsurou deflected the pillow and held his arm up over his eyes, “I just—is she ok? I heard her scream.”

A second later Coach Ukai appeared at the door, though he, unlike Tetsurou, kept his eyes focused on the floor. He said something urgent in Japanese.

Shimizu responded briskly, and the coach looked up and Tetsurou dropped his arm. Hermione’s brain was still trying to catch up to everything that had happened. 

A scream? Her throat felt raw. Tetsurou had said ‘her’ scream. Oh.

It came flooding back to her. She had fallen asleep in the room with Tetsurou. He hadn’t known to set up the wards before leaving her, so… everyone had heard her scream. Tetsurou likely knew what the nightmare had been—Bellatrix, mixed with the department, from what she remembered. One day she would have to explain things so that he would know the reality behind the dreams. 

“Gomen nasai.” Her voice was scratchy. Kei and Tetsurou both relaxed when they heard it, though. Yachi-san hesitantly handed her a water bottle. She accepted it gratefully. “Arigatou.” Thankfully all three of them were properly clothed—it was only reasonable when you might have to walk down the hall to the restroom in the middle of the night. She felt awful for waking everyone up, and the tense atmosphere only made things worse. 

Tetsurou was staring at her, his concern was visible, but she could feel it lapping against her skin, as well. She looked away. “Gomen. I-” she still really didn’t know what to say. How did Harry deal with this? She supposed it helped that they knew the source of his nightmares. “I didn’t mean to wake everyone up.”

“You never do.” Kei’s soft voice was a bit muffled by the tissue he was holding up to his nose.

“Did I-?” 

He nodded.

“Gomen.”

Kei just shrugged. “You’re my cousin. No one else has seen you like that before. The girls didn’t know what to do.” Didn’t know to take away her wand. Right.

Hermione pulled her legs up to her chest. “Arigatou.”

Coach Ukai sighed and said something in Japanese again; this time Kei responded to him. Hermione rubbed her arm, thankful that the glamour still held, at least. 

“Gomen.”

“Stop apologizing.”

Now that he seemed to understand what had happened, Coach Ukai turned his attention to the two boys and spoke in rapid Japanese. They quickly nodded and fled, though Kei squeezed her hand one last time before he left. 

Hermione desperately wanted a hug from Kuroo or comfort of some kind, but she knew that was impossible with the coach and the other girls in the room. She sighed as the coach said something to Shimizu, then left the room. 

The door shut with a click, leaving her alone with the girls. An awkward silence filled the air.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Shimizu’s voice was quiet, uncertain.

“No.” Not with them, though it was nice of her to offer. 

Silence hung in the air once more. Yachi pulled her futon over next to hers. “What is your favorite thing about England, Granger-san?”

Hermione stared at her incredulously. Her favorite thing? Oh, the girl was trying to help get her mind off of her dream. “My friends.”

“Is that who you call sometimes?”

“Yes.”

“What do you do for fun?”

“Play cards or chess, go for a picnic by the lake on campus.”

“There’s a lake?”

“Rumor says a giant squid lives there.”

“Eh?!”

Hermione laughed softly. While she appreciated what the girl was trying to do, she didn’t really want to think about England right now. “Thank you, Yachi-san. We should try to get some more sleep though.”

“If you’re sure…” Hermione nodded, her hand reaching down to her holster. When the younger girl got up to turn off the lights, Hermione quickly reapplied the silencing charm. 

“Good night, minna.” Yachi slid back into her futon as Hermione and Shimizu responded. 

It took hours for her to get back to sleep, but eventually she did, secure with the knowledge that this time she wouldn’t wake the other girls. 

\-----

The first rays of light drifted across her face, and Hermione slowly sat up, annoyed. The other two girls were still asleep, so Hermione padded down the hall to take a shower while the room would be less crowded. She could feel Tetsurou still in his room, but for once she didn’t have the urge to go stand next to him, to hold his hand and feel his magic intertwine with hers. 

The bond held firm. 

The ceremony had worked, but Hermione tried to avoid thinking about the implications. About the fact that she would be spending forever with Tetsurou and not Ron. That she wouldn’t be able to do anything romantic with anyone else without experiencing pain. 

She took a deep breath, trying to focus on the water as it cascaded down. Tetsurou was her perfect match. Everything would be ok. They were in Japan. Bellatrix wouldn’t find them. She would be sent to Azkaban like the Malfoys. 

When she stepped outside the bathroom, people had begun milling around. They looked up to stare at her, then looked away and hurried by. 

Hermione sighed. She would just have to deal with the stares, like Harry had done. Normal people didn’t have nightmares that made them scream so loud they woke everyone up. She trudged back to her room to deposit her bathing supplies and was glad to see that both Yachi and Shimizu were gone, most likely to the kitchens.

Hermione felt Tetsurou’s presence flare to life and she blinked as she began to feel his emotions more strongly and could feel him moving around in the Nekoma room. So that was the difference between him beng awake and asleep? Their bond was getting stronger. She frowned. Why was Tetsurou going to the Fukurodani room?

_She’ll be upset._

Hermione blinked. Tetsurou's voice. What would she be upset about?

She shook her head; she would ask him later. He probably just wanted to go talk to Akaashi or Bokuto about something. She should just go to breakfast.

The stares were worse at breakfast. She sat at the end of the table that was unofficially Karasuno’s, and the team members who were there kept sending confused glances toward her. 

She sighed, twirling her spoon in the yogurt, only looking up when Kei slid onto the bench next to her. 

“Did you sleep well afterwards?”

“No.” Hermione looked askance at him. He should have known the answer to that question. 

“You seem more awake this morning than the past two days, that’s all.” 

Ah. “Last night worked.”

“I’m glad. Akaashi said it had, but…” he shrugged, “You seemed unsure of how much it would help, just that it would at least help some.”

“I’m still figuring out the changes, honestly.”

“Well, maybe it’s a good thing Kuroo-san will still be benched for his hand, then. You two will have time to work on it.”

Hermione made a noncommittal noise, watching the cafeteria doors as she felt Tetsurou come closer. When the doors opened, she made eye contact with him briefly, still wondering why he had been with Bokuto.

_She was with Bokuto, alone in a classroom, and Bokuto was pointing his wand at the rash along her-no Tetsu’s arm and neck. The rashes faded, replaced by a glamour._

Hermione rubbed her head at the susbsequent pain. It was less…intense than it had been before, at least.

So the rash was getting worse. She had almost been able to make out letters on his arm. That’s what he’d thought she’d be upset about. She didn’t like it, that was for certain, but she also knew it couldn’t be helped. She sighed. 

“I see some things are still weird, at least.” Kei sighed, “Try to tone it down while people are staring at you, if you can.”

“Morning.” Tetsurou slid into the chair across from them. “Bokuto’s getting my tray since I’m an invalid and all.” 

Hermione raised an eyebrow at the whispers that had started the second Tetsurou sat down. “And people say that girls are more gossipy.”

Tetsurou laughed. “We just met. I’m supposed to be running away from dealing with a girl that has emotional baggage, not continuing to harbor my three-day-old crush.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Right.”

“Hey, hey, hey!” a tray piled with apples dropped in front of Tetsurou as Bokuto flopped down next to them, Akaashi following suit, albeit more sedately. 

“You got me nothing but apples.” Hermione giggled as Bokuto reached over to grab one from the huge pile.

“You like them, right?”

“That’s hardly the point.” Tetsurou tilted his head to see past Bokuto’s mountain of silver hair. “Akaashi, why did you let Bokuto get me only apples?”

“To teach you not to let Bokuto get your food.”

“Why do I have such mean friends.” Tetsurou’s head hit the table. Hermione winced. 

She decided to take pity on him and traded Tetsurou an apple for her banana. She didn’t mind either way, and it would at least give him something different to eat.

“But I wanted to see you eat the banana…” Hermione’s eyes widened at Tetsurou’s whine. A blush spread across her face.

“Now I know not to ever eat a banana in front of you, so thank you for that.”

“Yesterday you said my attention was welcome. Would you rather I completely ignore the fact that a beautiful, talented witch is sitting across from me?”

Hermione’s brain stuttered to a halt. He…she… No one had ever complimented her like he did. Or flirted with her like he did. It was nice to be acknowledged as a woman, as well as her skills. She didn’t know how to respond, though.

Ron hadn’t even noticed she was a girl for so long…She winced as pain shot through her head. Tetsurou’s mood had shifted to annoyed. Apparently he’d seen her memory of Ron’s attempt at asking her to the Yule Ball.

“Trust me, love. I’ve definitely noticed that you’re a woman.” She swallowed under his heated gaze and confident smirk and opened her mouth to say something, anything, but Kei beat her to it.

“That’s it.” Kei stood up next to her, “I’m not staying here to hear your flirting with my cousin.” He smirked. “I’d say see you on the court, but you’re benched today, aren’t you?”

Tetsurou threw an apple at his departing back, but Kei didn’t even turn around when it hit.

“Smug brat.” Tetsurou sighed, finally taking a bite from one of the apples. “And I’m feeling better today, too.”

“Maybe the coach will let you play after lunch?”

“Doubtful.” Tetsurou shook his head. “Thanks to you he didn’t see it when it was broken, but he knows it was bad since I don’t normally react to injuries that way.” He sighed. “If I can convince him I’m doing better today, though, he’ll probably let me in tomorrow’s matches.”

Bokuto just laughed and pounded him on the back. Hermione winced. “It sucks dude, but at least it’s just a day and not like, a month or more, which it could have been.”

“That’s the truth.” Tetsurou finished his second apple. 

Hermione smiled at him. She knew he was frustrated, but the stress that had been present the day before had eased a bit. He seemed more carefree. Their bond was definitely still evolving, but the release from the strain of the urge to accept it had lifted a huge weight off of both of their shoulders. 

“I’ve finished my breakfast, so I’m going to go to the gym and start preparing for the day. See you guys there.” They nodded absently at her, though Tetsurou’s eyes lingered on her a bit longer than the other two. She smiled reassuringly. She really was fine. It was hardly the first time she’d had nightmares.

People stared at her again as she walked down the hall and then as she filled the water bottles and grabbed the clean towels from the dryers. She sighed. This was ridiculous.

She felt rather than saw Tetsurou enter the gym, but she didn’t pay attention to him until he plopped down next to her on the bleacher. She looked up from yesterday’s notes to see him smirking at her.

“Apparently the coach is proud that I haven’t abandoned you despite last night revealing that you might have some issues to work through. As a reward, I’m supposed to stay over here today and watch the Karasuno matches with you.”

“So he’s using your ‘crush’ as an excuse to ask you to spy on our team?”

“Pretty much.” Kuroo shrugged, “It’s the downside of training camps like this. You get to pit yourselves against a lot of strong teams, but you also give those teams more time to observe your strengths and weaknesses.” He paused, “Of course, at the moment Karasuno is still struggling to fly, so they’re not able to take advantage of that side of the camp as much as the other teams are.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Fine. In return, though, you get to help me take better notes today.”

“Your wish is my command, my lady.” Ha gave a half bow from where he sat. 

When Coach Ukai entered the gym and saw Tetsurou there, sprawled out next to her on the bleachers, he raised an eyebrow, but didn’t demand that he leave. 

That didn’t stop Kei from sending them annoyed looks as the match began, though.

“Aw, Tsukki’s so protective. It’s cute.”

Hermione laughed. “Is he protecting me or the team in this instance?”

“He’s not being very effective, whichever one it is.” 

“Well you are his senpai, so I imagine it’s a difficult position for him.”

Kuroo just smirked, then yelled at Kei, who had just blocked with a one touch, “Oi! Tsukki, I know you could have shut that ball down. Commit, glasses!”

Kei’s shoulders tensed, but he refused to react further than that. 

The next time Kei blocked, Tetsurou shouted that he’d run away from it. Then it was that he was too slow. Kei’s glares towards them were becoming more and more mutinous, and the Karasuno team seemed to be walking gingerly around her cousin. 

Wham! The ball slammed into the ground on the opposing team’s side, barely a second after the Ubagawa player had spiked it. 

Kei looked at his palm, then smirked. 

“Woohoo! There you go! That’s how you do it, Tsukki.”

“I hate you.” Kei was glaring at Tetsurou again, but he was still smirking. He clenched his hand as Karasuno whooped around him. 

“Yeah, yeah. I know you really love me. Don’t worry, your secret’s safe.”

Kei ignored him and turned his attention back to the match.

Thankfully, Tetsurou seemed content after that to stop heckling her cousin. The match continued with the two of them sitting peacefully side by side, Hermione scribbling notes about points and serves with Tetsurou commenting to her every now and then about one of the moves a Karasuno player had made. He seemed especially appreciative of Sawamura’s and Nishinoya’s skills. 

“Say Granger-san.” Hermione looked at him. The second match had just begun, but `Tetsurou didn’t seem that interested even though it was against Fukurodani. “What did you do for fun when you were little?” Before Hogwarts. Before she left the muggle world.

“Not all that different from now, really. I read.”

“No sports?”

“I’m not exactly the most athletically inclined person, Kuroo-san.”

“And yet here you are at a summer sports camp.”

“To support my cousin, yes.”

“What I guess I’m trying to figure out is, how could you leave everything you knew and go to boarding school?”

“It was easy.” Tetsurou stared at her. “I didn’t have any friends, Kuroo-san. Not like you and Kenma-san. The other kids thought I was odd and made fun of me.” She paused, “Though, I didn’t have any friends at boarding school at first, either. Everyone thought I was a know-it-all and too bossy. I missed my parents. But then I had Harry. And Ron. And that made everything better.” She shrugged. “I still missed home, but I always missed them more.”

Tetsurou just nodded, leaning back against the bleachers behind him. “I can’t imagine leaving all this.” 

She appreciated that he loved the muggle world, that he could understand that part of her, but… “Why do you love volleyball so much?”

He laughed. “Tsukki asked Bokuto and me the same thing last camp, you know? About why we worked so hard for something that was just a game.” Hermione smiled. Apparently she and her cousin were alike in ways she hadn’t realized. “I don’t know, it’s…relaxing. Exhilarating. I’m a competitive guy, and this is a fun way to compete. I like watching people make plans, then thwarting them. Riling people up so that they make mistakes. It’s a relatively stress-free way to pit your brain and your body against someone else and see who wins, all while working with a team.” She could understand that. The rush of dueling side by side with Harry or Ron, but without the mortal peril.

“Kei-kun seems to like it more, now.”

“Yeah. He’s been hooked.”

They watched the second and third matches in silence, but it was comfortable. Tetsurou made a show of stretching his hand a few times, each time moving it a little bit more. 

When lunch came, Tetsurou made sure to get his own tray this time, though he also made sure to pick it up and carry it carefully, as if his finger was a bit tender. Before she could head toward a table, though, he called her name to stop her. He nodded his head toward the door. “You want to eat outside?”

She slowly nodded, wondering what he was up to, and he led the way toward a tree that overlooked the gym. The two of them sat down in the shade.

“I figured we could talk a bit more privately out here.”

Hermione took that as a request for a silencing ward, so she put one up, careful to make sure that no one could see her wand. 

Tetsurou picked up an onigiri, then sighed. “I have so many questions…I don’t know where to start.”

Hermione shrugged. “We’re bonded, Tetsurou. I might ask for some time if I’m not ready to talk about something, but I won’t hide anything from you.”

“Not even birthday presents?”

She laughed, “Ok, so I might hide some things from you, but only within reason and for your own good.” 

He was silent for a few moments as they ate, but then he spoke again, his voice softer. “Can I ask about your seven items? Or the scars? Or the dreams? They aren’t exactly light topics suitable for lunch time chatting.”

Hermione nodded. “No, but it’s not right to just leave you with the pieces. You should have the full picture.”

He felt cautious, curious, and concerned. He was looking at her closely, searching for something, then he closed his eyes, concentrating on something. “finite.” Bokuto’s glamours faded, revealing a thin scar across his neck and the word mudblood etched into his left arm. Hermione reached out, her skin pale and her hand shaking as she traced over the scar. It wasn’t a rash anymore, but a harsh word that stood out against his tan skin. 

“Gomen.”

“I didn’t release the glamour to make you feel guilty.” He paused, running a hand through his already messy hair. “Thanks to what you’ve told me earlier, and the dream, I know when these two happened.” He gave her a small grin, “I like that.” He paused, searching for the right words. “These are…they’re horrible, but they’re proof that you’re strong. That you’re amazing.” He swallowed. “I look at them and… I can’t imagine how on earth I’m your match. The match of someone who is so amazing, so powerful, so smart, so… kind, despite the fact that she’s withstood so much.”

Tetsurou reached up to brush a tear off of her cheek. “I look at these scars and I feel proud. Because my soulmate beat them. They did everything they possibly could to you, but you still beat them.” His voice was so earnest. “I know you’re ridiculously brilliant and fucking incredible, but I don’t know how or why you’re so incredible, and I want to.” 

Tetsurou was so… earnest. She had scarred him for life, but he acted like they were some sort of badge of honor. “I don’t know what to say.”

He sighed and leaned back against the tree. “You said earlier that Harry and Ron became your friends during your first year. How did that happen?”

“On Halloween night. They saved me from a troll.” She leaned back against the tree next to him, picking up her own onigiri. She supposed this story was important, but it was also one of the easier ones to tell, for which she was grateful.

“This would be why you needed troll mucus?”

“Yes.” She laughed. “Harry jumped on its back and shoved his wand up its nose. It was disgusting.” 

Tetsurou spewed his drink out, then turned to her, coughing. “He did what?” 

“I supposed I should start at the beginning. One of our professors was possessed by Voldemort and trying to find an item within Hogwarts that would resurrect Voldemort entirely. To distract everyone, he let a troll into Hogwarts. I was in the loo at the time. Ron had said some…not nice things before dinner about me being bossy, so I had gone to the loo to cry. When the announcement was made about the troll, I wasn’t there, and Harry and Ron knew why, so they went to find me.” She shrugged, “they succeeded, but the troll had found me, too. They attacked it and managed to levitate its club and drop the club on its head, which knocked it unconscious. We were all incredibly lucky, really.”

“I’ll say.” Tetsurou was looking at her incredulously. “Three eleven-year olds versus a troll? I’m beginning to wonder if you have any room to criticize Bokuto for his stupidity.”

“I didn’t go looking for it!” Well, she hadn’t looked for the danger that time, at least. 

Tetsurou must have sensed some of her conflict about her answer because he smirked. “Were there other creatures that you did go looking for, Hermione?”

The image of herself jumping onto the back of the dragon underneath Gringotts flashed through her mind and she winced at the subsequent burst of pain.

“You jumped onto a bloody dragon?” Tetsurou was staring at her. 

“There were extenuating circumstances.” Hermione was just grateful he’d seen the dragon and not her howling to get a werewolf’s attention. Though she honestly wasn’t sure which was more difficult to explain.

“What kind of extenuating circumstances justify jumping onto the back of a dragon?”

“A horde of goblins coming to kill you because you broke into Gringotts.”

“What the heck?” Tetsurou groaned and cradled his head on his knees. “Half the time the memories help, but the other half of the time they just make me more confused.”

Hermione laughed. “Anyway, I took the blame for the troll so the boys wouldn’t get in trouble, they had only been coming to help me, really, and you tend to forgive someone for mean remarks after he’s fought a troll for you.” Hermione shrugged. “There have been rough patches over the years, but we’ve been best friends ever since then.”

“You fought a troll at eleven years old.” He shook his head, confused, “Why weren’t you scared of magic after that?”

“It helped that I’d already seen a lot of its more positive, or harmless, uses.”

“That makes sense. Kenma… He wouldn’t come over to my house for a while after the fire, but he also always wanted to be with me. He was terrified.” 

“You helped him, though.”

“Yeah. We would play video games at his house, go to the park to play volleyball…anything to get his mind off of it.”

“You’re a really good friend, Tetsu.”

“Aw, are you starting to fall for me?” His smirk was back in place. 

Hermione glared at him, red dusting her cheeks. “You’re a good person. And you already know that I think you’re attractive.” Because he could feel it, darn him. 

“I’ll take that for now. One day, though, I’ll have you saying more.” She swallowed hard but was somewhat more comfortable dealing with this confident version of Tetsurou than when he complimented her. 

There was a short pause as the two of them ate, then Tetsurou spoke again. “The other scar. The one on your chest. How did it happen?”

She sighed. “No one actually knows about that one, you know.” Hermione tilted her head back and watched the sun’s rays come through the leaves. “Well, except for the mediwitch. I got hit by a dark curse in the Department of Mysteries. Voldemort wanted the prophecy and tricked Harry into going to get it.” At his confused look, she hurried to explain, “only the people about whom the prophecy was given can remove a prophecy from the Department of Mysteries.” When he nodded, she continued. “We were surrounded by Death Eaters immediately. Dolohov hit me.”

“Is this Dolohov dead?” Hermione shivered at the harsh tone in his voice and the hard look in his eyes. For the first time, she realized that Tetsurou’s potions mastery might include, like Snape’s, a knowledge of several poisons. 

“In Azkaban.” Tetsurou’s rage subsided a bit within him. “My charms professor incapacitated him at the final battle.” Hermione laughed at Tetsurou’s incredulous look. “Professor Flitwick was a dueling champion and the head of Ravenclaw. The smart ones.”

“Right.” He had tried to keep the incredulousness from his voice, but Hermione could still feel it coming from him. She decided to change the topic. 

“You ready for the afternoon matches?”

“I want to be in them.” Tetsurou flopped lazily down onto the grass. Hermione had a feeling that if they hadn’t been visible to anyone walking by, his head would have been on her lap. She found that she wished it was, which was a new desire for her. She wanted to run her fingers through his hair…she clamped down on her feelings, but too late. Tetsurou was already smirking at her.

“You look like a lazy cat, sprawled out like that.”

“Not the first time I’ve been told that, love.” Hermione blushed, but rolled her eyes. “I like it when you call me Tetsu.” His voice was deeper, almost like a purr. “Can I call you Mio?”

“Mio?” Hermione wasn’t exactly opposed. Just confused. 

“Your name is spelt with an m-i-o, isn’t it?” Hermione laughed, but he continued. “It means beautiful. Like a cherry blossom.” At that, Hermione turned bright red. Tetsurou smirked at her, “Yes, exactly that shade.”

“Tetsu!” She lightly kicked his shoulder with her foot. 

“I’m not…” Hermione took a deep breath. “I’m not beautiful. I’m scarred, I’m broken, I have frizzy hair—"

“You’re beautiful.” Tetsurou’s voice was firm, unyielding. Hermione stared at him. She felt so… confused. He just stared back, then repeated his question, “Can I call you Mio?”

“I…” Hermione bit her lip. “Yes. If you want to.” She looked away. “In private of course.”

“Of course.” His grin spread wide across his face, making him look like the cat that got the canary. Then he spoke again, this time sounding like he was purring once more, “For now.”

She ignored his rejoinder. “Come on, we should get going.”

“As you wish, Mio.” The nickname made her feel…something. It was a new feeling, but not unpleasant. Warm. She kept walking toward the gym. She needed to focus on other things. Tetsurou just strolled beside her, smirking. 

When they reached the gym, Hermione was relieved to find that the stares were mostly gone, though people still seemed to feel awkward around her. She was surprised to see Kenma over by the Karasuno team, talking with Hinata.

“Yo, Kenma.”

“The team thinks you’re a lost cause.”

“Oh?”

“They’ve decided that you two are probably going to get married eventually because apparently nothing will make you leave her.”

“Well I wouldn’t say they’re wrong, if things go my way.”

“EH?!” Hinata had apparently been listening. “Marriage?!” Hermione sighed, Tetsurou just kept smirking. She decided to let him deal with this situation and grabbed some of the empty water bottles to go fill them. She stayed within hearing range, though, in case things got out of hand.

“In a few years.”

Hinata was still staring at Tetsurou, completely aghast. 

Tetsurou just shrugged, “She’s an amazing woman. I’d be stupid not to want to keep her.” He patted Hinata on the shoulder. “Just wait a few years until you find the right one, then you’ll understand.”

“Eh?!” Hermione absently wondered how much of his confusion came from Tetsurou’s explanation, or the fact that said explanation was done in English.

Kei walked toward them. “I don’t think Hinata will ever understand that kind of thing, Kuroo-senpai.” Senpai? That was new. Tetsurou was practically brimming with happiness at the change. Hermione smiled at the two of them. Poor Hinata looked even more confused than before. 

A ball flew from the court to hit Hinata in the back of the head. Kageyama shouted something in Japanese about practicing. 

“Bakayama!” Hinata picked up the ball and threw it back at Kageyama. Soon the two were doing…something, though it looked more like dodgeball than volleyball. Hermione shook her head, then picked up the last of the water bottles to fill. 

“So, Tsukki…” Tetsurou was grinning at Kei.

“What.”

“I’m your senpai now, huh?”

“You were determined to do it, anyway. I figured I might as well give you the title.”

“Aw!” Tetsurou glomped onto Kei. “I knew you loved me!” 

“Get off!” Kei shoved Tetsurou off, then took a few steps back for good measure. “This doesn’t change anything. I still hate you.”

“Just keep telling yourself that, my little kouhai.” 

“I’m taller than you.”

Tetsurou reached over to patt him on the back. “You’re still my little kouhai, though.”

“Shut up and go back to your own team.” Kei was refusing to look at them. 

“But Granger-san wants me here.”

“Ugh. Kenma-san, please make him leave.”

Kenma looked up from his game to frown at them. “Too troublesome.”

“You’ll let Kenma stay, but not me?” Tetsurou gasped, clutching his heart. “Tsukki, I’m wounded. I really am.”

Kei shrugged, then smirked at Tetsurou. “You’re melodramatic. Kenma’s not. That’s why he can stay.”

“You say such mean things, Tsukki.” He pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.

Hermione walked up and dropped the container full of water bottles next to the bench. Before she could be pulled into whatever scene Tetsurou was making, though, the whistle blew for the next match to start. 

Kenma sighed. “I don’t like playing without you.”

“Aw, Kenma-cat, you’ll make it. I’ll try to get back in tomorrow, alright?” Kenma sighed but stood up and went back to his team. Hermione could feel the prickles of worry against her skin as Tetsurou watched his friend. 

“I’m worried about next year.”

“Hinata will still be here. And his teammates respect him.” That much was obvious, even from afar.

“Yeah…” She sighed. The prickles of worry weren’t lessening.

“He’ll have to learn to be ok without you someday, Kuroo-san. Highschool is as good a time as any.”

“I guess.” Tetsurou sighed. “Looks like Karasuno is playing us again.” He smirked, though there was still worry for his friend underneath it. “Poor little chickies. Another penalty drill.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “They’ll beat you someday.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Won’t be today, though.”

Sadly, Hermione couldn’t argue with that. The moves they had been practicing were steadily improving, but they were far from perfect. As the match slowly progressed, that much was quickly evident. At least Tetsurou wouldn’t heckle Kei when he was against his own team. He was too busy yelling at the tall silver haired boy named Lev.

A few minutes before the match ended, though, the mirror began to buzz in her pocket. Her eyes flew wide in alarm and Tetsurou faltered mid-yell. “I need to go accept a call.”

Hermione darted out of the gym, quickly doing the math as she ran. It was 4:30 am in England. Something was wrong. She threw up a silencing ward in the first abandoned classroom she found. 

In a second she had the mirror out. “Hermione!” It was Harry. Her eyes roved over what she could see. There weren’t any injuries.

“What happened?!”

“First off, don’t panic. Everyone’s fine and everything’s under control.”

“Harry…” he only said things like that when everyone was not fine and when things were decidedly not under control. “You’re calling me at 4:30 am.” He winced. “Don’t give me that. Tell. Me. What. Happened.”

“Bellatrix attacked the Burrow last night.” Hermione sat down with a thump on the desk behind her. “She had help, we caught two of her accomplices, Greg Goyle and Blaise Zabini.” Their classmates. “There was one other with her, older, but they both escaped. Percy and George are at Mungos right now.”

A lump was forming in her throat. “You said everyone was fine.”

“They will be, the healers are positive. One of the attackers hit Percy’s room with a blasting curse. He was pretty beat up, but George got to him fast enough that he’ll be ok. Thankfully he knows a lot of healing spells given the twins’ experiments.” 

“If he was healing Percy, how did he get injured?”

“He…went kind of ballistic. After he healed Percy he just jumped out of the hole the blasting curse made. He had no cover for a minute or so until we got outside.”

No cover against three wizards and Bellatrix Lestrange. Hermione shuddered. “I’m glad he’s alright.”

“‘Mione…” There was more. Of course there was more. “He’s fine, I promise, but…Bellatrix used legilimens on him.”

Bellatrix could use legilimancy? That was not good. “What does she know?” George knew lots of secrets. Secrets about the order, about Harry, about her. 

“George was just conscious for a few seconds after we got to him, and the healers say it’s too early to wake him up just yet, but… He said two things before he fell unconscious. Legilimancy and your name.” Harry was looking at her uncertainly. 

“So Bellatrix definitely found out something about me.” Hermione finished for him. That wasn’t good. Of course, there were any number of reasons why Bellatrix was fixated on her, so it was no use guessing, really. “She probably knows I’m in Japan.”

“Yes, but you’ve never told us where, remember? Even we only know the country.”

“But she’s coming. She’s coming here, and she might know names. The Tsukishimas. Bokuto and Akaashi. Tetsurou. She probably knows about the bond.” Bloody hell, George knew more about it than any of them, even her, with all the research he had been doing.

“Bill’s already talking to Kingsley about the safest way to get to Japan. He’s the only one who knows exactly where you’re staying, right?” Hermione nodded. “It’s best to keep it that way, but you need back up. As soon as Bill can get to you without anyone coming, he will. He’ll…” Harry paused again, watching her warily, then took a deep breath and plunged forward, “he’ll be bringing a partner. You should know that it will probably be Draco Malfoy.”

Hermione closed her eyes. It made sense. Malfoy had proven under veritaserum and legilimancy that he was not loyal to Voldemort. He’d just been trying to save his family. Even then he hadn’t been able to kill Dumbledore. And he hadn’t revealed them at the manor. Not to mention that he would know his aunt better than anyone. “We can trust him?”

“If he comes, he’ll be under oath.”

Hermione nodded her acceptance. “Thanks for the heads up.”

“Have you had time to teach Kuroo-san?”

“No.” She shook her head, distressed. “We’re surrounded by muggles right now, Harry. It’s hard enough to slip away to talk without them suspecting something. Of course, they’re more likely to suspect that we’re doing something risqué than practicing magic, but still…” Harry was laughing on the other end, “Oh, you just shut up Harry Potter.” She sighed. “I’ll find a way. I have to. He can’t face Bellatrix when he doesn’t even know how to cast protego.”

“He doesn’t even know _how_?” Harry’s eyes were wide again, worried. “Hermione, George said that your bond…”

“I know, Harry. If she hits Tetsu with anything it’s as good as hitting me. And she knows it now, too, since she’s seen George’s mind. Did George know Tetsurou is bad with his wand?”

Harry shook his head. “No. We never mentioned it.”

“Well, there’s that, at least.”

“She’ll likely assume he’s weaker than you, anyway. Most people are.”

Hermione smiled a little at that. “But Harry, I don’t think Tetsurou is weaker than I am.” 

Harry’s eyes widened. “He’s not?”

“No.” She shook her head. “He hates using his wand, but he’s actually quite powerful.”

“That’s good, then. You can surprise her.”

“ _If_ I can get him to learn protego, much less anything else.”

“You have to, ‘Mione.”

“I know.” She sighed. “I will.” She just didn’t know how. Tetsurou… she remembered the spike of fear when she had conjured the flame last night. He had smothered it quickly, but it had been there. Hermione swallowed. This was not going to be easy. Tetsurou had buried his pain deep and refused to acknowledge it for over a decade. 

She closed her eyes. He was still in the gym, but she could feel his anxiety, his indecision. George had said that they would be able to share thoughts. Maybe… She focused on her desire to see him. 

Immediately she felt him begin to move out of the gym. She grinned. When she opened her eyes, Harry was looking at her as if she was crazy. “Sorry. I was just… trying something.”

The door banged open as Tetsurou walked inside, then shut with a snap behind him.

“I felt you call for me… or something. What’s going on?”

“Bellatrix attacked the Burrow, the Weasley’s home,” she clarified, “and invaded George’s mind. We think she knows everything that George did about me. About us.”

Tetsurou stood frozen. Fear was coursing through him. “That’s… really not good.” He shook his head, then looked at Harry, “Are they ok? Is Weasley-san alright?”

“They will be. That just means that Bellatrix was after information more than anything else, though. Once George wakes up we’ll know for sure what she knows, but…” he shrugged, “until then it’s best to assume she knows everything. While I’m talking to you, others are working on a plan to discreetly send you backup. We can’t send too many, though, or it will just make it easier for her to find you.”

“Tetsurou.” He looked at her, eyes confused and panicking. “We have some time. George only knew that I was in Japan, he didn’t know where.” Tetsurou nodded, his panic ebbing a little. “In addition, she’s a fugitive. She’s clever, so I have no doubt that she’ll manage, but it will still take her a while to get to Japan.”

“So I have time to learn how to shield. To make the powder.” 

“Yes.” She nodded, “We’re sticking to the original plan, it’s just a bit more urgent, now. And we need to talk to Akaashi and Bokuto. We never mentioned their names in front of George, but…” She turned to Harry.

“Did you ever mention anyone else’s name to George?”

Harry sighed. “The Tsukishima name, most likely. I can’t remember. We did mention Akaashi’s. For the wards. Other than that, though… I don’t think we ever said Bokuto-san’s, but we might have.”

“Kenma’s?” Tetsurou’s voice was thick.

“No.” Harry shook his head slowly, “Hermione doesn’t talk about him as much, and he doesn’t have magic, so I’m pretty sure we never did.”

Tetsurou nodded gratefully. Hermione was relieved when a little more of his panic ebbed away. Of course, any small amount of research into Tetsurou would reveal that Kenma was a large weak spot. She didn’t mention that, though. He was panicked enough already. 

“Tetsurou, can Bokuto and Akaashi’s families defend their homes well?”

“Akaashi’s, yeah, no problem they pretty much all specialize in runes. It’s a defensive fortress. Bokuto’s, though…” Tetsurou shrugged, “he’s what you call muggleborn.”

Ah. “We’ll ward it for him, then, when my backup comes. We’ll obviously do the same for Kenma-san and Kei. What about your house? Your family members?” She didn’t even know if Tetsurou had a large family or not.

“My Dad’s father is a retired umm… you call them aurors, I think.” Hermione nodded. That was good. “Grandma does potions, she taught me. My mother’s parents don’t have any magic. She does charms, my dad travels a lot and works with creatures. My dad’s brother is an auror and my cousins are all younger.” So besides his grandmother, his mother’s parents and his cousins, everyone had a mastery in a subject that would help them in a confrontation against Bellatrix. That was better than it could have been, but still…

“We’ll ward all of their homes, we’ll just need addresses when the backup team arrives. Honestly if Akaashi’s family is as good as you say, their assistance would be helpful.”

Harry ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll see if we can make it a three-person team, there’s a lot of properties and people to watch…Kingsley’s pretty much forbidden Ron and me from coming, said it would put too many of her targets in one place.”

“Luna?”

Harry nodded, “Good idea. She travels a lot, so her departure won’t be suspicious. Charlie might be able to leave the reserve for a bit, too.” 

“That would be nice.” Hermione sighed, “Our mark’s a dragon, but I don’t know what species. I’d like to ask him since the mark is supposed to represent us as a couple. It would be interesting to know what our magic thinks represents us.”

Harry laughed, then nodded. “I’ll see what I can do. I should go report to Kingsley, now, but keep the mirror with you. I’ll let you know what George has to say when he wakes up.”

“Thank you, Harry.”

He gave her a tired smile, “You’ve always had my back, Hermione. I’m glad to do the same.” The connection ended. 

Hermione glanced toward Tetsurou, who was sitting down on the desk next to her. His emotions were haywire. Fear, sadness, determination, worry, but most of all the desire to protect. 

“Tetsu, we’ll be ok. We will. Help is coming.”

He slowly nodded, “It doesn’t help much when I know you’re trying to convince yourself of that as much as you’re trying to convince me.”

“I’m terrified of her, more so than any witch or wizard alive, certainly, but…” Hermione sighed. “I also trust my friends.” She tentatively ran her hand through his hair. He leaned into the touch. “Trust in me. Trust in the Weasleys. Trust in Akaashi and Bokuto. We’ll get through this.”

“I can barely use my wand, Hermione.”

“And we’re going to fix that. We’ll start tonight.” She stood up and turned around to face him. “First, though, we have to get back to the gym before they send a search party for us.” She held out her hand. He took it, and the two of them walked slowly back to the gym. 

\-----

“So let me get this straight. Voldemort’s psychotic right-hand woman is coming to Japan because she’s after you.” They were all sitting at the tree Tetsurou had taken her to earlier and eating dinner under a silencing ward and notice me not that Hermione had put up. She had just finished updating them on her conversation with Harry, and none of them looked too happy. Akaashi and Kei were staring at her. Bokuto looked like he didn’t know what to do with this information. 

“Gomen.” Hermione sighed, none of them belonged in this war. “We knew it was a possibility, but we’d hoped she’d stay in England since there were more possible targets there.”

“Why is she coming after you, then?” Bokuto’s voice was confused.

Hermione laughed. “Pick a reason. I’m the most well-known muggleborn from the war. We stole something from her vault in Gringotts and destroyed it. She tortured me, and I got away. I won her wand.”

“Alright, so she has reasons to hate you.” Kei was rubbing the bridge of his nose. 

“Pretty much.” 

“Bokuto’s family and mine are close. We’ll take care of them. We can ward Kuroo’s family’s home and Kenma’s as well. You focus on Miyagi.” Akaashi’s voice was firm, and she appreciated having one less thing to worry about. She nodded her thanks. 

The mirror vibrated. George had woken up. Hermione quickly pulled out the mirror.

“George!” She had not expected to see Harry, not him. He looked tired and worn, but he gave her a small smile. 

“Hey there, ‘Mione. Harry’s here, too, just out of view.”

“Oh George, I’m so glad you’re awake. How are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better, but I’ve also been worse, so I can’t complain too much. I’m trying to look at the bright side: no chores, an endless suplly of Mum’s brownies, a free-pranking pass because no one will yell at me at the moment. The benefits are really endless.”

Hermione just sighed. “You don’t have to be cheerful all the time, you know.”

“Eh. It cheers Mum up when I try.” He waved a hand nonchalantly. “On to more important things, though. I’m…” George’s voice trailed off and he rubbed the back of his neck. “I tried to keep her away from that info, but I’m pants at occlumency. I’m so sorry, Hermione.” His voice was quiet toward the end.

“Oh, George. It’s not your fault. Most likely none of us could have withstood her, except for maybe Harry. We’ll figure something out, we just need to know what she knows.”

“Harry said you wanted to know what names she knew. Maybe Akaashi’s and definitely Kuroo’s and Tsukishima’s.” She saw those Akaashi and Kei tense. Tetsurou just looked resigned. “

“And the bond?”

“Everything.” George sighed. “She knows what Kuroo-san looks like. She knows he’s scared of fire.” The others stared at Tetsurou incredulously, but he just shook his head. Now wasn’t the time. “She knows it’s the seven-fold version of the trial by fire bond. She knows that your seven qualities are the mark, emotions, pain, dreams, memories, location, and thoughts. She knows it’s not fully developed yet.” George sounded defeated by the end. “If only I hadn’t jumped out to fight her, then…” he sighed. “There’s always ‘if onlys’ in a war, eh Granger?”

She smiled at him, “There are. We just need to move forward now.” 

The picture blurred and suddenly Harry was in view. “Luna’s on her way now. She knows you’re with a lot of Muggles, so she’ll stay out of sight. She says the Blibbering Humdingers will guide her to you.” 

“Blibbering what?” Akaashi looked very confused. Harry just shrugged, and Hermione smiled a bit, remembering her own first reactions to Luna.

“Luna’s a seer of some sort,” over the years that much had become obvious. She was too perceptive, all the while remaining completely aloof. “Like most seers, she’s a bit…” Hermione paused, trying to think of the right word. “well, she comes off a bit barmy, at first. She describes her visions as interactions with creatures that don’t exist. Well, with ones that most witches and wizards don’t believe exist.”

“She believes in things that don’t exist, but she’s going to help us.” Kei’s voice was highly skeptical. Hermione sighed.

“She’s a good duelist and always able to tell when something’s wrong before anyone else can. She may seem out of it, but she’s helpful to have around.” 

Tetsurou’s arm tightened around her waist.

Harry ran his hand through his hair. “She won’t be alone. Charlie will join her when he can. Probably tomorrow. Those two will shadow Kuroo-san. Bill and Malfoy will come over the weekend and shadow you, Hermione. Bill will put up wards everywhere, though anything Akaashi-san can add would be great.” 

“We’ll ward all the places of interest with runes. What wards does Bill-san use? Knowing will help us prepare our wards to combine with his.”

Harry shrugged. “He’s a curse-breaker at Gringotts.” Akaashi’s eyes widened. Apparently that profession was as well-respected here as it was back in England. “Admittedly, he’s better at tearing wards down than putting them up, but he’s the best in the Order.”

“You said Luna-san is helpful because she’s a seer. What does Charlie-san do?”

George’s laugh could be heard through the mirror, even if they couldn’t see him. “He’s a bloody dragon tamer. If Bellatrix comes after you with fire, mate, there’s no better man to have at your side than my brother.” 

Hermione felt the relief flood through Tetsurou, even if outwardly he only nodded his thanks. 

“A seer, a cursebreaker, and a dragon tamer. They are all strong reinforcements.” Akaashi was nodding, thinking about something, then paused. “What about the last one? Malfoy-san? His name…” Akaashi trailed off, eyeing Hermione skeptically. 

“What about his name?” Kei was on guard now. Hermione sighed.

“He’s Bellatrix’s nephew.” Tetsurou turned to her in shock. 

“And he’s _guarding_ you?”

“He’s proven beyond doubt that he didn’t support Voldemort.” Hermione sighed. “To be honest, I don’t like him at all, but his knowledge about his aunt will be invaluable and he’s a good duelist.”

“He’ll be under oath.” Harry’s voice was calm, like he was trying to be reassuring. Trying and failing, thanks to the annoyed glint in his eyes. “Bellatrix won’t expect us to use him. She knows we hate him.”

“The oath?”

“An unbreakable vow not to knowingly assist Bellatrix, anyone with a dark mark, or anyone in known association with former death eaters in any way. He also has sworn not to harm you or anyone you call a friend. Give him that list as soon as he arrives.”

“Of course. What is he getting in return?”

“He wants to be an auror.” Hermione’s eyebrows rose. Harry shrugged, “Something about catching death eaters being the fastest way to redeem his family’s name. Kingsley said that, depending on his performance, he would consider recommending him.” And a recommendation from the minister would be invaluable when the whole department hated him because of his last name. If his motivations were truthful, then, Malfoy would be determined to help her because of its own advantages for him. Good.

“The entire Weasley clan would come, but the more of us there are, and the more predictable people we send like myself or Ron, the faster Bellatrix will find you.”

Hermione nodded, “Not to mention that Minerva still needs help preparing Hogwarts for the fall, doesn’t she?”

Harry nodded. “There was much more damage than we thought.” He shook his head, “We’ll be cutting it close, but we should finish.” Then he grinned, “Fleur managed to get word to someone else, though, and he’ll be coming to help.”

“Fleur did?” Hermione’s eyebrows knotted in confusion, then spread open in surprise. “Viktor?”

Harry nodded. “He injured his left hand a week or so ago, which means he can’t grip his broom, which means no Quidditch practice at the moment. He can still duel just fine, though, and no one should notice his absence, thanks to the injury.”

“Wait a second here.” Bokuto’s voice was strained. “You said he was injured and plays Quidditch. You wouldn’t be talking about Viktor Krum, would you? The international quidditch star?”

Harry and George both laughed. “The one and only. He and Hermione are,” Harry paused, “friends, I suppose, from the Triwizard Tournament.”

“Friends?” Kei glanced toward the mirror, curious about Harry’s pause.

“Exes.” Harry was grinning mischievously. Tetsurou immediately tensed beside her while Bokuto burst out laughing. 

“Harry Potter! We went on _one_ date, if you could even call it that!”

“But Hermione,” Harry shook his head in mock disappointment, “You were the one person he would miss most during the second task.”

“There weren’t exactly a lot of people from Durmstrang to pick from!”

“Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that. Viktor had a crush on you.”

“Oh, be quiet, Harry.” Tetsurou’s hand was clenched possessively around her waist. “And you. We’ve accepted the bond. You have no competition.” Hermione huffed. “I never even saw Viktor that way, anyway. We were just friends.”

“Friends. With an international quidditch star.”

“Yes. Just like I’m just friends with the Destroyer of Voldemort here.” Hermione stuck her tongue out at Harry, and Tetsurou thankfully relaxed a bit next to her. He didn’t let go of her waist, though.

Harry shrugged unrepentantly. “Anyway, Viktor will need some time to arrange things, but he’ll be there early next week to help protect the Tsukishimas.”

“Thank you, Harry. You should probably go, though. I’m sure there are things you need to be doing.” 

Harry sighed. “True enough. See you later, then, ‘Mione. Try not to get into any trouble.” His image vanished from the mirror. Hermione glared at it. Like he was one to talk. She sighed, then slipped it back into her pocket. 

“Is there a place where I can help Tetsurou with his shield while you all practice volleyball?”

“We can look around.” Bokuto shrugged. “I think Kenma went to try to find a spot for us, and one of the gyms should be empty since people should be going to dinner soon.”

“Let’s do that, then.” 

The five of them received some curious looks as they walked around, peeking inside gyms, but thankfully no one commented. It seemed like everyone accepted their hodge-podge group, despite the fact that it was made of people from three different teams. Thankfully, though, they quickly found Kenma playing a video game in the third gym. Hermione then closed all the doors and warded the whole area with silencing wards and trip wards by the door so that she would know if anyone was coming. 

“I think you’re a bit obsessed with ward spells, Granger-san.” Bokuto was already bounding toward the net, dragging a reluctant Kei behind him. Kenma watched them go, then grudgingly followed with Akaashi. 

Hermione sniffed as Tetsurou was smirking at her after Bokuto’s remark. “They’re necessary.”

“Of course they are, love.”

She glared at him for his placating tone. “Just pull out your wand.” He raised an eyebrow. “And no suggestive comments!”

He pulled his wand out. “I wasn’t going to…” He held up one hand placatingly, but his smirk said otherwise.

“Right.” Hermione rolled her eyes. “Try a lumos. You do know that one, right?” 

“Yes!” 

_She was sitting in a dark room next to a ten year old Kenma, holding up a flickering lumos and watching over Kenma’s shoulder as he played his game._

Hermione rubbed her head. “That was adorable.”

“Shut up. I am not _adorable_.”

“Right, sure you aren’t.” She rolled her eyes, but refrained from embarrassing him further since she didn't want to also embarrass Kenma. “Give me a lumos, then. Or have you forgotten how?”

“Lumos.” The light wasn’t necessarily weak, but it did flicker, as if unsure as to whether or not it should be there. His emotions reflected that indecision, as well. Maybe…

“Incendio.” Tetsurou didn’t show any reaction, but she could feel his wariness as he stared at the flame on the tip of her wand. “Try to put out the fire. You know that spell, right?” He nodded, and Hermione held the wand away from her.

“Aguamenti.” Water poured forth from his wand, but Hermione reinforced her flame, making it burn hotter and turn the water into steam. Tetsurou frowned, then more water was streaming forth, hitting her flame with precision. There was no flickering or indecision this time.

Still, though, Hermione’s flame remained untouched, burning blue and white as the steam curled around it. As the water took energy from her fire, she replaced it. Tetsurou was glaring at her flame, now. His water was becoming faster, more forceful, and flecks of ice landed on the ground opposite the flame. She was having to strain now to keep the flame going. Finally he pushed through, and the flame collapsed. They were both panting. 

“Yeah!” Bokuto let out a whoop and they turned to see the other four watching them. “Man, that was incredible! Like this huge battle of wills or something!” Hermione dried the ground and vanished the ice, shaking her head at Bokuto’s antics. 

“You can cast a strong spell, then.” 

Tetsurou sighed. “I just hate fire, that’s all.”

Hermione cast incendio, extending her wand again. “This time pay attention to how your magic feels as you strengthen your spell.” They repeated the process a few times, then, when he felt like he had it, she had him cast lumos again.

The flickering just became more dramatic as Tetsurou tried to adjust his energy. Hermione sighed. Protego needed to be maintained like a steady stream, not the battering ram/trickle of energy that Tetsurou was fluctuating between. Maybe an example?

“Protego.” Her shield coalesced in front of her, a translucent pearly white hemisphere. She changed the form, pouring more energy to stretch it out wider in front of both of them, making sure to keep the same firmness all the way to the edge. “Protego is a barrier that needs to be constantly maintained and reinforced as spells hit it.” 

She glanced over to where the other four had once again stopped playing and were watching them. “Bokuto-san, hit this shield with everything you can. Tetsu, while he does that, watch the shield and try to notice how I reinforce it. You may be able to feel my energy through our bond, I don’t know.” 

A blasting curse slammed into the shield but dissipated harmlessly. “Is that all you have, Bokuto-san?” A few more spells followed in quick succession. 

“Your aim is terrible, you know. Shields are weaker when you hit the same spot successively, and they’re more likely to break if you aim for the edge, where sloppier shields are weaker.”

They all stared at her. “What? It’s true.” When Luna or Charlie arrived she would have to try and stage a duel in front of them. Teach them some remedial tactics. “Try to hit my shield on the same spot with three blasting curses in a row, Bokuto-san.”

The shield was fine after the first, but the milky quality dissipated a bit after the second and she had to rush to strengthen it before the third. She let the shield drop. 

“Did you see the flicker of its quality between the second and third?” The three wizards slowly nodded. “Aim for those weak points and aim fast. They won’t stay around for long if you’re fighting someone good.” She turned back to Tetsurou, “Keep doing lumos and try to create a steady stream like you saw me do with protego.”

Tetsurou tried again. 

And again. 

And again. 

Over half an hour passed and the light was still flickering. It didn’t help that Tetsurou’s frustration was increasing each time, which only made the light’s flickering increase in turn. Hermione bit her lip, not knowing how to help him. He was clearly aware of the flow of his magic, now, but he was just completely unused to maintaining a steady flow. Maybe… 

“Try to imagine that your magic is a potion and needs to be stirred steadily.” 

“Are you just saying that because I like potions?”

“Partly. But you seem to be thinking of your magic more as a switch than a flowing substance.” She shrugged. “Maybe the potions image will help.” 

He sat there for a second, staring at his wand, then sighed and tried again.

“Lumos.” The light was steadier this time, but it seemed to ebb and flow in waves. As Tetsurou concentrated, though, the waves seemed to die down and become smaller and smaller. About five minutes later, he had a steady light. His triumphant grin was tinged with exhaustion.

“Wonderful!” It had taken about an hour, but they had made progress. 

“Try to maintain that for 60 seconds at a time. Once you can do that, we’ll start with protego.”

Tetsurou groaned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all enjoyed it! I'm trying to keep a balance between the serious scenes and the more light-hearted ones :) 
> 
> Luna and Charlie are about to arrive! It's exciting, y'all.


	17. July 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

When Hermione opened the classroom door the next morning, she nearly tripped on a pot of mushrooms. Why in Merlin’s name…? Luna. She could feel confusion and amusement coming through the bond. 

_She has such odd friends._

Hermione sighed. Luna must have placed something there, as well. 

Inside the pot was a blank piece of paper, so Hermione picked it up and watched as the writing manifested. The recipe for the peruvian darkness powder. She quickly took it and the mushrooms back into her room, setting the pot at the base of her futon and then hiding the recipe in her trunk. 

“Eh?” Yachi was sitting up, rubbing her eyes. “Why do you have a pot of mushrooms, Granger-san?”

Ugh. How did she explain this? “I found them in the hallway. There was a piece of paper saying they were for me.”

Yachi just stared at her, confused.

“I think it’s Kuroo-san’s idea of a joke.” Please let this work. “He couldn’t get roses or anything at the camp, after all.”

Shimizu was awake now, watching her with amusement. “And why would Kuroo-san want to give you roses?”

Hermione blushed, “Ah… he may have mentioned something like that last night…” He hadn’t, but they didn’t know that.

“That’s awesome, Granger-san! I’m so happy for you.” Hermione just blushed and nodded, quickly fleeing the room. She sighed. As if Tetsurou hadn’t made his attention obvious over the week. 

Once she was in the hallway, though, Hermione frowned in thought. She really should try to say hi to Luna but where would she be? Harry had said she would make herself scarce, so… Hermione wandered out toward the back corner of the track, which wasn’t visible from any of the gyms or the cafeteria. Sure enough, Luna was there and appeared to have found (or grown) a field of mushrooms. She’d made some of them into a necklace and was wearing her usual radish earrings along with a very bright yellow dress with purple swirls. 

“Good morning, Hermione. Did you like my present?”

“Morning, Luna. Yes, thank you. I’m afraid I almost tripped on them, though.” Hermione rubbed her arm guiltily, “Thank you for coming all the way here on such short notice.”

Luna’s serene laugh floated on the air. “Silly. I’ve always been going to come here. This is a bit earlier than I thought, though.” She smiled, “But that’s ok.”

“The camp ends tomorrow, so we’ll be going back to Miyagi then. Do you mind staying in Tokyo?” 

“Of course not. There are all sorts of fun creatures here. And such interesting mushrooms.”

“What’s interesting about these mushrooms, Luna?”

“They’re fire resistant, of course.” Hermione blinked. That…made sense. She still wasn’t sure what to do with them, though.

Hermione felt Tetsurou approaching them from the cafeteria and wasn’t surprised to see Luna glance in the same direction.

“New friends are lovely, don’t you think?”

“Of course, Luna.” Hermione smiled at her, “Old ones too.” Luna gave her a bright grin, “Yes. Not all friendships have to be made through trials, though.” She patted Hermione’s shoulder, “Harry says he sends his love, but not to worry about talking today. Something about a low profile. He said you’d understand.” Not talking? But it was his birthday! She’d left a present for him before she’d come to Japan, but still…

Hermione barely registered Luna’s absent-minded smile before the girl bounded over to Tetsurou when he rounded the corner with Bokuto and Akaashi.

“Hello! I’m Luna Lovegood, but most people call me Looney.” She held out her hand to the three boys. Akaashi was the first to recover. He tentatively shook her hand. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lovegood-san. I’m Akaashi, and these are Bokuto and Kuroo.” Luna nodded, “Cat-san.” “Owls-san.” 

“Hey, hey, hey!” Bokuto held his hand up for a high-five, but Luna just looked at it, curious. 

“Owls don’t do that. Unless you’re imitating the mating habits of pyranese pygmy owls?” She cocked her head to the side, confused. “But you already have a soulmate.” 

Bokuto’s hand slowly lowered as he stared at the girl.

Hermione giggled. “It’s a greeting, Luna.”

“Oh!” Luna raised up one arm and smiled at them, “Hello to you, too, then.” She lowered her arm, then turned back to Hermione. 

“I’m going to go explore around here for a bit. Have a good day!” She turned toward Akaashi, “Try not to let the nargles get to you.” With that she disapparated. 

“What does that even mean?” Akaashi looked perplexed.

Hermione shook her head and shrugged, “as far as we’ve been able to tell, she thinks you aren’t thinking clearly about something.”

Bokuto started laughing. “At least the mushrooms were good.”

“You ate them?!” Tetsurou stared at his friend incredulously.

“Weren’t we supposed to?”

“I don’t know.” Hermione shrugged. “She just said that they were fire resistant.” Tetsuro gave her a sharp look at that. 

Bokuto just shrugged. “They’re the kind I used to pick with my grandparents.”

“Oh.” So they were edible. That was good, at least. “Were they here before?”

“Nope.” 

Hermione just sighed. Oh well, a bunch of mushrooms popping up on the field and around the campus was hardly the oddest thing Luna could have done to announce her presence. 

“Just…go with the flow with Luna, I suppose. But if she ever tells you to do something, do it as best as you can.” She shrugged. “Usually whatever she meant becomes clear in hindsight.”

They all three looked at her as if she was insane. “I warned you she was a little odd!”

“I like her!” Bokuto picked some of the mushrooms, “these’ll make a good breakfast.” He headed off toward the cafeteria, presumably to wash them. Akaashi shrugged and followed after him.

Tetsurou sighed and put his hands in his pockets. “So she’ll be one of my guards?” Hermione could feel his incredulousness, even if he was keeping it from his face.

“She’s tougher than she looks, you know. She’s fought death eaters side by side with us, and she was captured by them before we were. Thankfully we were able to get her out.” Hermione sighed, “I’ve never asked how long she was there, though.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Pretty much anyone would be better than me, honestly.”

“We’re working on that.” She slipped her hand into his, and he smiled at her.

“Yeah.”

Hermione looked down at their hands, reveling in how comfortable hers felt within his. “Has it been long enough that we can be seen holding hands without upsetting Kei-kun?” She didn’t want to let go.

“Probably not, but since everyone’s placed bets on when I’ll ask you out, why not?”

There were bets? “Define everyone.”

“All of Nekoma, some of Karasuno, though Tsukki’s ignoring it, and some of Fukurodani. Not many from the other teams.”

Hermione wanted to groan. Why were so many people interested in her love life? She blamed Tetsurou’s popularity. “Has Kenma?”

Tetsurou smirked at her. “Of course. He bet I wouldn’t last past lunch today.”

That soon? But that just left a few hours. “Why now?” She wanted to hold hands, to say his name in public, to stop hiding as much, but…a date? She and Ron had never really had the time to go on any dates, and the ball with Viktor didn’t really count. What did you do on a date?

“You’re freaking out.” Tetsurou was watching her closely, confused. 

“It’s nothing, really.” She fidgeted under his gaze. “Don’t laugh.” An eyebrow raised. “I’ve never actually been on a date. I don’t know what to do.”

Tetsurou snorted, “I’ve never been on one, either.” Right. He’d never dated. He’d been waiting on his soulmate. Her. Hermione relaxed a little. “It’s just spending time together, Mio. Just the two of us. No pressure, nothing to research in advance so that you know the right answer.”

“Gomen.” She sighed, “Being with you is…nice. Really nice. But I don’t like new things. They’re unpredictable. Dangerous.”

“You’ve been living off the fight or flight response for a long time, Mio, so that makes sense. But…” Tetsurou sighed. “I really want to go on a date with you.”

Hermione slowly nodded. “I like spending time with you, Tetsurou.” 

“So, is that a yes?”

“Yes.” She felt a rush of happiness through the bond and laughed softly at his grin. 

Kuroo’s thumb rubbed across her hand. “I’ve been to Karasuno’s gym before. I was thinking I’d apparate over there Saturday evening, maybe take you to dinner.”

“Tomorrow?” So soon? She supposed she would miss him…it felt odd to think about him not being just a few rooms away. Regardless, though, “We’ll have to talk to everyone about plans to counter Bellatrix that evening.”

“Sunday then?”

She thought for a second, “Yes, Sunday should be fine.” They would have a little time that way to figure out how to do something safely.

“Sounds like a date, love.”

Hermione blushed and looked away. “Shall we go inform Kenma that he won?” She gestured toward the cafeteria.

Tetsurou nodded and they began walking back, still hand in hand. “He did have a bit of an unfair advantage.”

“Knowing you well is hardly an unfair advantage. They should’ve known not to bet against him.”

Tetsurou laughed, “That’s true.” They rounded the corner and were once again visible to people wandering the campus, but apparently everyone was so wrapped up in their early morning thoughts that they didn’t notice the two’s joined hands. 

Hermione still felt nervous, though, which was ridiculous. She’d faced much larger things than simply openly acknowledging that she liked someone by holding their hand. 

She pushed open the cafeteria door. 

Kei was the first to notice, his eyebrow twitching in annoyance. Bokuto and Akaashi were nowhere in sight, so apparently they’d gone elsewhere to eat. Thankfully the noisier members of Karasuno were also absent, and those that noticed their hands seemed to take it in stride after the initial double take. Hermione relaxed, letting go of Kuroo’s hand to grab a tray and some breakfast, then make her way over to her cousin. Tetsurou followed behind her. 

“I should have known you wouldn’t last past this week.”

“You really should have, Tsukki.” Tetsurou was smirking at him. 

“So are you two telling people that you’re dating now?”

Tetsurou looked at her, letting her answer. Hermione swallowed. “Yes.” This was what she’d wanted. To openly acknowledge that she liked him. Not to hide.

“You’ve known each other for less than a week.”

“So?” Tetsurou raised an eyebrow.

“That’s not normal.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “From our standpoint, it’s perfectly normal and we’ve taken things slowly.” Kei sighed in defeat. “Tetsurou will be coming over tomorrow and Sunday, by the way.” 

“Is this going to be an everyday thing?”

Hermione exchanged a look with Tetsurou, who shrugged, “I honestly don’t know, we haven’t talked that far ahead.”

“Right.” Kei sighed, “Have you even told my mom and dad you’re dating someone?”

Hermione swallowed her orange juice the wrong way and started coughing. “Ah… no?”

“I’m not telling them. You should probably call them today to let them know if he’s coming over tomorrow. Nii-san will want to be there to meet him, too.”

Tetsurou grinned, “I get to meet the Tsukishimas! I’ll have even more ammo to bug you with now, my kouhai.”

“God no.” Kei groaned and turned to her, “Must you date him?”

Hermione giggled, “You already know the answer to that, Kei-kun.”

“Ugh.” He picked his tray up, “I’m going to go escape this reality for a few minutes. Don’t follow me.” He slipped on his headphones and wandered off, leaving the two of them to eat alone. 

“Are the rest of the Tsukishimas all…” Tetsurou waved his hand at Kei’s retreating back, “Tsukki-ish? He’s great and all, but it took me forever to win him over, and he still won’t admit that I succeeded.”

Hermione laughed. “No, they’re very friendly, though his father is somewhat quiet. He’s made a sarcastic comment every now and then, though, so I think Kei-kun got his sarcasm from him.”

“Right. Friendly.” Tetsurou swallowed. “Well. I’m sure they’ll love me, then. If Tsukki’s the prickliest and I’ve already won him over, how hard can it be?” Hermione could feel Tetsurou’s nervousness and smiled at him. 

“Honestly, you should probably be more nervous about meeting the Weasleys than the Tsukishimas.”

He shuddered. “Don’t remind me. I mean, I’m sure they’re nice people and all, but they are a lot more threatening.”

“You’ll meet Bill and Charlie tomorrow. Maybe even see Charlie today.”

“Yes, and they don’t have intimidating jobs _at all_.”

Hermione laughed. “They’re both harmless.”

“If they were harmless, they wouldn’t be coming here.”

“True, I suppose. They won’t do anything to you, though.” She smiled sweetly at him. “They know I’d pay them back for it.” 

“You’re scary sometimes, you know that?”

Ron’s line about her being brilliant, but scary, flashed through her mind and she winced a second afterwards.

Tetsurou smirked at her, “Well, I definitely agree with him about that. Glad to know he has a healthy dose of fear of you.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, then turned to greet Kenma as he sat down. “Morning, Kenma-san. Congratulations on winning your bet.”

Kenma blinked slowly, then took a sip of his tea before looking between the two of them. “Omedeto.” He took another slow sip. Kuroo rolled his eyes and made a dramatic sigh.

“It’s useless talking to him this early, Hermione. His brain won’t be functioning until the caffeine kicks in. The mere fact that he responded is a miracle.”

Kenma just took another sip. 

Hermione giggled, “Alright then. I’ll simply have to congratulate him again later when his brain is fully functioning.”

“Probably for the best.” Kuroo nodded sagely.

Kenma eyed his friend for a second, then shrugged and took another sip before setting his cup down to grab some toast.

“As fun as this…conversation…has been, I probably should go help Shimizu and Yachi set up.”

“Of course. I need to go try to persuade the coach to let me play today, so I’ll come with.” He turned to his friend, “That ok, Kenma?” He got a nod in response and rolled his eyes. 

It turned out that the other girls were behind schedule for once, so Hermione’s morning transformed into a quick flurry of activity as she helped them fill water bottles, switch out the laundry, and review the notes from the day before. She didn’t have any time to talk to Tetsurou before the matches began, so she was relieved when she saw him on the court during the first match. He would no doubt have gone crazy sitting on the bench for another day. 

The last match before lunch was against Nekoma, and Hermione could feel Tetsurou’s exhaustion settling in. She sighed. Yesterday they hadn’t done as much physical activity, so they hadn’t begun to feel the drain until he started to work on his magic. Today, though, she could definitely feel the drain of the bond as it pulled on their magic to try and complete itself. At least it was better than before. 

“Yo.” Tetsurou collapsed onto the bench next to her as the other teams rearranged themselves around the gym. “Cheer for me?”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Hardly. I came to support Karasuno, after all. And I think most of the team wants to pound you into dust now that rumor says we’re officially dating.”

Nishinoya and Tanaka were glaring at Tetsurou. Kei just looked resigned.

“Eh. I’ll be concerned about that when the moves they’re practicing actually start working.” He took one last swig from his water bottle. “Hold it for me?” she rolled her eyes but took it from him and he ran onto the court. 

Shimizu gave her a sly smile but didn’t comment since the game was about to start.

Tetsurou was once again riling up Karasuno with his commentary, and poor Sawamura had to yell at Nishinoya and Tanaka a couple of times. Needless to say, many of Tanaka’s spikes were overpowered and went out of bounds. Hermione sighed. They let people get to them too easily. 

Annoyance flooded the bond when Kei-kun managed to shut down one of Tetsurou’s spikes. “Are you getting too old for this, senpai?” Kei was smirking at him. “You look a little tired.” 

“Bring it, my little kouhai. I can take you any day of the week.”

Hermione sighed. Something told her their competitiveness was going to be something she would have to deal with for the rest of her life. 

When the match ended (with Nekoma victorious), Hermione passed Tetsurou his water bottle and congratulated him, but then slipped out to call the Tsukishimas. She really should have done so earlier, she just hadn’t wanted to worry them….

“Moshi moshi?” 

“Ano… Aunt Sarah?” She closed the classroom door behind her but didn’t bother to ward it.

“Hermione! What’s wrong, dear?”

“Camp is going fine, great really, but…” she sighed. “Well, two things have happened that you should know about.”

“Alright…”

“It’s… one of my enemies from back home found out that I’m in Japan. We think she’s going to follow me here, but it will take her a while to get here and find me. Some of my friends wanted to come over and help, so they wanted to meet you all tomorrow night. Is that ok?”

“Of course! We’ll make a large dinner for them. But… are you sure we’re safe right now?”

“Yes. She just knows I’m in Japan, not where I am specifically. And she’ll look for me, first.”

“I don’t like the thought of you and Kei in Tokyo without us in a time like this.”

“We’ll be back tomorrow. And one of my friends came and is watching this area. We’ll be safe.”

“If you’re sure….”

“I am.” She was sure that Bellatrix would at least take a few days to find her. After Monday, though…

“Well, you said there was something else? Hopefully some better news?”

“Yes. I…well, I’ve gotten to know one of the guys from one of the Tokyo teams. And he’s… like me, if that makes sense?”

“So he’s a wizard?”

“Yes.”

“It must be nice to meet someone like that here.”

“It is, there are actually three of them at camp. Apparently they like to stay in cities, here.”

“How interesting.”

“Anyway, um… the guy that I got to know. His name is Kuroo Tetsurou. Has Kei-kun ever mentioned him?”

“The name sounds a little familiar, but Kei doesn’t really talk much about his own team much, much less the other teams.”

“That’s true. I just wondered because Kei-kun is friends with him.” Hermione paused and took a deep breath. “He asked me out on a date Sunday night and wants to be there when we meet on Saturday. We’ve decided to start dating each other.” 

The silence on the other end unnerved her. She’d never done this kind of thing since the Weasleys had figured out that she and Ron were dating (and had stopped) before they could tell everyone themselves. And she would rather explain the soulbond part in person…. 

“Well, that’s certainly better than the other news, and he’s welcome to come, and I’m happy for you, but…isn’t it a bit sudden?”

Of course she would have the same reaction as Kei. Hermione bit her lip. “The suddenness has to do with tradition where I’m from. I can explain tomorrow.”

“Alright…” Her aunt’s voice was still confused, but had a bit less concern in it, which was nice. “I’ll settle for congratulations, then. He makes you happy?”

Hermione remembered all the times over the past few days that he’d gotten her to laugh, despite the fact that they’d both been confronting their traumatic pasts. “Yes.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Go get some lunch and I’ll see you tomorrow, alright? I can’t wait to meet Kuroo-san and your friends. And stay safe!”

“Arigatou. I’ll see you then.” Hermione hung up the phone and sighed in relief.

She opened the door and wasn’t the least surprised to see Tetsurou waiting for her in the hallway. 

“Phone call go alright?”

“Yes. My aunt’s fine with you coming over this weekend, though she’s a bit worried about the other thing.”

“Understandable.”

They began to walk in comfortable silence toward the cafeteria, but that was swiftly ruined with Bokuto’s arrival.

“Hey, hey, hey!”

“Hey, bro.”

“Congratulations, my awesome friends. Rumor has it that Kuroo here has successfully asked out Granger-san, though everyone is confused as to how he managed.”

Hermione shook her head. “I love how holding hands this morning and mentioning to Kenma that he won his bet has suddenly resulted in every person in this camp knowing we have a date.”

Bokuto laughed. “It’s high school. That’s what happens, right?”

“Apparently.”

“Just keep focusing on the fact that we can hold hands in public without Tsukki complaining.” Tetsurou smirked at her, then slipped his hand into hers as he pushed open the cafeteria doors.

Hermione swore he timed that on purpose. 

A rush of whispers greeted them, but Hermione ignored the gossip and pulled Tetsurou over to the food, releasing his hand so that she could pick up a tray. She quickly picked up a few random things, then went over to sit beside Kei. 

“Already tired of him?” Hermione looked over to where Tetsurou and Bokuto were arguing about something by the food. 

“Hardly. I wish the stares and whispers would stop, though.”

“Your own fault. Most people don’t start dating someone when they’ve known them for less than a week.”

“Hiding was more annoying.”

“Granger-san?” Hermione looked up to see Kenma standing across from her.

“Hai?”

“Can I sit here?”

“Of course, Kenma-san. Do you need something?”

He nodded as he sat down. “Kuroo…said someone had followed you.”

“Yes.” Kenma fidgeted in his seat. “We’re taking precautions. You’ll be safe.”

Kenma shook his head. “Kuroo won’t be.”

“People are coming to help, Kenma. He’ll be fine.”

“He’s your weak point.” 

He was. There was no denying it. Kuroo could barely form a shield and would be easy prey for Bellatrix. “He’ll never be alone.”

At that the tension in Kenma’s shoulders eased a bit. “He won’t like it.”

Kuroo’s tray dropped down next to hers. “Who won’t like what?”

“You. Having people tail you.”

“Ah.” He didn’t comment on not liking them, just said, “Can Kenma meet them?”

Hermione shrugged, “I don’t see why not.”

“Great.” He began wolfing his food down but paused for a second to ask where ‘mushroom girl’ even went.

“Mushroom girl?” Kenma cocked his head to the side, “Is that why there were mushrooms everywhere this morning?”

“My friend is…interested in the paranormal?”

Kenma blinked slowly. “I don’t understand.” 

Tetsurou sighed and clarified, “She introduced herself to us as ‘looney.’”

“That’s not nice. She just says that because bullies call her that.” 

Tetsurou raised his hands up in defense, “I’m just repeating what the girl said.”

“So she’s weird. Even for people like you.”

Hermione sighed in defeat. “Yes. But she means well.”

“Ok.” Kenma took another bite of his meal. “The mushrooms were nice.”

“They were?”

He just nodded and kept eating. Hermione wondered if she would ever understand Tetsurou’s friend. Did he know about the mushrooms supposedly being fire resistant? Is that why he thought they were nice?

Akaashi arrived then, dragging Bokuto behind him. Apparently he’d gone over to Hinata and stood there talking instead of eating anything. Akaashi shoved Bokuto down onto the bench next to Kenma, who looked slightly disgruntled at the new arrangement and slid over a spot. Akaashi sighed and sat between them. 

“Gomen, Kenma. Just trying to make sure that this idiot actually eats something before the next match. We only have a few minutes left of lunch.”

Those words appeared to spark an eating fury in everyone around her, except for Kei, who just stood up patted her on the shoulder before strolling off, headphones still firmly in place. 

Hermione rolled her eyes, but finished her own food quietly. As Tetsurou was about to leave, though, she grabbed his hand. “Do you need more vitamins?”

“Maybe halfway through, but I’ve got one dose left for right now.”

“Alright. Have some good matches, then.” He grinned at her, then jogged off while she went over to the corner where Yachi was still sitting. 

The afternoon matches passed in an exhausting blur. She did notice that Tetsurou was playing better than he had earlier in the week, and could see why the other players had noticed a difference. He was much more aggressive now. Especially in the second match when he played against Bokuto. Tetsurou repeatedly blocked the owl’s spikes, sending him into a depressed mode. Hermione was slightly concerned for Bokuto, but Tetsurou was just laughing at him and Akaashi didn’t seem worried, so Hermione decided it was probably just something that happened every now and then. 

Toward the end of the next match, though, Tetsurou’s exhaustion was beginning to overwhelm her, so she slipped down the hall to her room to take a pepperup potion. A dragon fang necklace lay on her pillow. She checked it for spells, but the only thing that came up was a protective charm, so it was definitely from Charlie. She was glad he’d come. She quickly slipped the necklace on under her shirt and downed the pepperup before returning to the gym.

Kei sent her an annoyed look when she came back, and Hermione belatedly realized that Nekoma was about to play Karasuno. Oh well. If they beat them when Tetsurou wasn’t at his best it wouldn’t really count as a Karasuno victory to either Kei or Tetsurou. 

Hermione began taking notes on the serves, shaking her head as Tetsurou’s serves predictably still targeted Hinata and Kei. She winced when Kei made a particularly bad receive. Tetsurou burst out laughing, “What was that, Tsukki? Were you even trying?”

“Shut up and target someone else you demented cat.”

“Aw, you’re actually making me feel bad for you after a receive like that.” He served again…straight to Kei. Of course. Hermione made another mark in her notebook. Kei looked ready to murder Tetsurou. Again.

The match was closer than ever, but Karasuno still ended up losing and taking the penalty. Tetsurou winked at her and collapsed next to her, chugging water. “Their moves are starting to work.” He wiped his forehead with his towel. “They’re going to be a problem to deal with if this keeps up.”

“Finally starting to worry about losing to Kei-kun?”

“Psh. He has to improve those receives, first.” Tetsurou smirked at her, then sighed. “I hope he does, though. Our coach really wants the Battle at the Garbage Dump to happen.”

“The Battle at the Garbage Dump?” Hermione tried not to laugh, but she knew Tetsurou could feel her amusement.

“Yeah, it’s an overdramatic name, but our teams have been rivals for a really long time. We want to play each other on the national stage. I want it to happen while I’m still on the team.”

“Is that why you helped Kei-kun?” She hadn’t known that the two teams had a history.

He shrugged. “It’s why I started. I do also like the kid, though.”

The whistle blew for the next match and Tetsurou sent her a smirk. “Watch me? I promise to win some for you.”

Hermione smiled and shook her head at the repeated pick up line. “You’ll try to win them regardless of whether I’m watching you.”

He grinned at her, then jogged toward his team. Hermione watched him go. Her aunt had asked her if Tetsurou made her happy, and she hadn’t really thought about it until then, but… he did. His enthusiasm and dedication and focus on this game were contagious, and she’d never even liked sports, not even quidditch. He just…made her smile. 

Despite what she’d said, she did watch him almost the entire time. His eyes met hers a few times, smirking or smiling, but he seemed focused on his team and making sure that they played their best. 

When the match was over (and Nekoma won again), he wandered back over to her. “For someone who wasn’t going to watch me, I noticed your eyes strayed over to my match quite frequently. It was almost like they never left.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, then realized she’d forgotten to tell him that Charlie had arrived. She pulled the dragon fang necklace out from her shirt. “Charlie’s here. He left this in my room.”

Tetsurou’s eyes narrowed. “I liked the mushrooms more.” 

“He’s like my older brother. And we’re bonded. You have nothing to be jealous about. It’s just a necklace.”

“It’s a valuable necklace.”

“It is hardly a rare and valuable thing coming from someone in his field.” Tetsurou shrugged, clearly still annoyed. 

“But it’s…” he groaned. “Dragons are awesome, ok? So that’s awesome.” 

Hermione sighed. If he liked it so much… she took it off and handed it to him. “Here.” Tetsurou’s eyes widened and he froze. 

“Are you… do you…” He picked it up gingerly. His emotions were all over the place, flickering between awe, confusion, and happiness. “You don’t know about the tradition in Japan, right?”

Hermione frowned, “What tradition?”

“The first week you meet your ah…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “You and me.” Soulmate, then. “You give them a gift. It’s supposed to represent them.”

“Oh.” She frowned. “But that’s just something Charlie gave me, it shouldn’t count for something as important like that! I’ll find something else.”

“Nope.” He put the necklace on. “This was your first gift to me.”

“But it was just to stop you from being jealous! That’s hardly the best sentiment for—”

“Are you saying I’m not cool enough for it?”

“What?” She put her hands on her hips. “Don’t be ridiculous. As if—”

“Then dragons aren’t important to us?” His smirk was wide now, watching her reaction.

Hermione honestly didn’t know what to say to that. Their marks were dragons, after all. “I’ll get you something else, too.”

He laughed, “Sure thing, love.”

She glared at him, “Honestly.”

He grinned, completely unrepentant. Happiness flooded through the bond. Hermione sighed. 

“Well, you wanted Kenma to meet him, right? Do you want to do that now or do you want to shower and have dinner first?”

“Dinner please? Something tells me meeting your friend is likely to turn into practice time for Kuroo.” Hermione laughed, but didn’t deny it.

Despite Tetsurou’s desire for a long reprieve, dinner ended up being a fairly quick affair. Afterward Tetsurou trudged off to get a shower, and Hermione slipped back to her room to grab another pepper up for him before she went to find Charlie. 

Thankfully the search didn’t last long, as he was sitting exactly where she’d seen Luna this morning. “What did you rename Ron’s favorite dragon?”

“Norberta.” Charlie sighed as he stood up. “I wish we could be done with those.” He gave her a tight hug. 

“I see you have a new burn.” Hermione eyed the tender flesh around his wrist.

“Yeah, we’re trying to train some new hatchlings and they’re a wild bunch.” He grinned at her, “Worth every burn, though. Not every day we get to work with young ones.”

“Sorry for making you leave them.”

“Nah, it’s fine.” He shrugged, “I’ve got another burn on my back, too, and the boss was after me to take a break before I had more burnt flesh than healed flesh.”

Hermione shook her head, “I’m guessing your mum doesn’t know about that one?”

“Of course not. She’d just put herself in a tizzy, no good would come of it.” He gave her a sideways glance, “And I’ll know who she heard it from if she sends me a fussy letter, so don’t even think about telling her.”

“I wouldn’t! You’re right, it really would just worry her for no reason.” Hermione turned toward the campus as she felt Tetsurou approaching.

“Your soulmate coming?” His voice was teasing, so Hermione pushed his shoulder. “Lay off it, and yes, he is. He wanted to bring his friend, too. A muggle that lives next door to him and knows about magic.”

“That’s unusual.”

“Things are done a bit different, here. Kenma’s under his family’s protection or something like that. Their ministry knows that he knows and is fine with it.”

“So we’ll be guarding him, too.”

“Yes. They pretty much do everything together, though, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

At that point Kuroo rounded the corner, Kenma in tow, and she felt his unease triple at the sight of Charlie. Hermione could understand why Tetsurou would be uneasy, but it was a bit ridiculous. Tetsurou was taller than Charlie and had just as much muscle on him, even if Charlie had a more wild look with his dragon fang jewelry, dragonhide jacket and boots, long hair, burnt wrist, and copious scrapes.

“Tetsurou!” Hermione stepped toward him and grabbed his hand, amused at the fact that he could keep his face calm when there was so much uneasiness pooling inside of him. “This is Charlie Weasley, basically an older brother to me.” She turned toward Charlie, “Charlie, this Tetsurou Kuroo and Kenma…” she blinked and turned to him apologetically, “Gomen, Kenma-san, I don’t think I actually know your full name.”

“Kozume Kenma.”

Charlie held out his hand and gave Tetsurou’s a firm shake, “Good to meet you Kuroo-san, you too Kenma-san.”

“What kind of teeth are those?” Kenma was eyeing Charlie’s necklace with interest. 

“Dragon.” Charlie grinned, then shrugged, “One of the perks of being a dragon-tamer is that you have pretty much unlimited access to their teeth and skin. They actually shed both of those a lot until they’re fully grown.” 

Hermione gave Tetsurou a pointed look, but he just grinned at her. She sighed as Charlie turned to Tetsurou, “Harry said you’re into potions, right?” Testsurou slowly nodded, “If you ever need dragon ingredients, just let me know. I can probably get them for you for free.”

Tetsurou’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Within reason, but yeah, really.” Charlie patted him on the shoulder. “You’re part of the family now.”

Hermione’s heart warmed up at Charlie’s statement and her grin widened as Tetsurou’s unease began to slip away.

“Thanks, man.”

Charlie’s grin turned mischievous, “Now, what’s this I hear about your shield being terrible?”

Tetsurou groaned. “You were just softening me up for when you went in for the kill, weren’t you?”

“Maybe.” Charlie laughed, “You don’t have to practice right now, though.” He looked between Tetsurou and Kenma. “Have you seen a real duel before?” Tetsurou shook his head. “Well, that won’t do. You’ll react better if you know what to expect in general, but in particular from us. Hermione, throw up some wards?” She nodded and quickly put up her usual two, along with a muggle repelling ward around the perimeter and a standard dueling ward that would prevent ricocheting spells from hitting Kenma and Tetsurou. Thankfully the back of the school was really just a big field. Just in case, though, she threw on a couple more—now they would be invisible to everyone who wasn’t inside the perimeter. 

“Just so you two are aware, Hermione and I have never actually dueled each other before, so we know nothing about each other’s dueling styles, besides what we know about each other’s personalities. For example, I would wager that Hermione’s got a huge arsenal of spells up her sleeve and can keep her opponents guessing.” 

Hermione nodded, “I do, though I don’t always use it. And I would wager that you like to play with fire?”

“Everything but fiendfyre.” He grinned at her. Hermione felt Tetsurou’s unease come back, but he needed to see Charlie in control of the fire in order to trust it as a defensive tactic. 

“Limitations?” They were trying to show how they would fight against Bellatrix, after all.

“Nothing you can’t heal.” A reasonable stipulation. Hermione nodded. 

Hermione forced herself to be calm, pushing all emotions to the side. The two of them faced off and counted to three, then Charlie immediately sent a wave of fire her way.

Hermione didn’t bother to block but just rolled under it and shot off a spell toward her opponent the second she saw his boots. 

Charlie apparated.

She cursed and pulled up a protego in a dome around her, then the second a spell hit her shield she fired off two stunners in the direction they’d come from.

Another crack. Hermione grimaced, it was annoying, but since you couldn’t shield much against dragons it made sense that Charlie’s fighting style would heavily rely on apparition. Fine, then. She’d just ward against it. She dropped the shield and began to create the apparition ward. Immediately spells and fire headed her way, but she ducked and dodged, finishing the ward a second before she needed to slam a protego into place. She panted, glaring at Charlie.

“No more apparating.”

“So it would seem.” He grinned at her, “Should have put that up at the beginning.”

“Apparently.” She fired off a stunner, watching to see how he would defend now. He stepped to the side.

“Normally I would go for my broom now, but given our location, I’ll skip that defense.”

Hermione remembered Ron telling her that Charlie been the best seeker Hogwarts had seen in a long time, until Harry. “You have a very annoying dueling style, Charlie Weasley.” But now she knew that he heavily preferred to dodge rather than shield. Most wizards didn’t, but she did, so she knew that style’s weakness. 

“I fight dragons every day. You have yet to show me how you’re better than one of them.”

Hermione just smirked, then threw five curses in quick succession, allowing one wand movement to turn into the next, aiming slightly around him, caging him in so that the sixth one landed. He had nowhere to dodge. His wand flew to her hand, but she watched him warily, flicking his wand into her currently empty holster so that he couldn’t summon it.

Sure enough, he pulled a second wand off his leg, along with a dagger. Lovely. Best to assume he had more than one of those, since the first had been invisible. 

“Shall we get serious, then?”

He began to circle her, wand pointed and knife held sideways, a position Hermione suspected that he often used with those dragon hatchlings he was so fond of. He was probably used to attacks coming through fire with dragons, so if she could distract him with fire, then somehow attack from behind…

A wave of fire rolled toward her, but Hermione blocked it this time, forming a pillar of ice in front of her, then throwing fire back at him and using it as a distraction to get behind him. 

His knife landed with a thunk in the ice, cracking it in half. She quickly sent a stunner and incarcerous at him before the ice fell and he figured out she wasn’t behind the pillar. 

He fell to the ground, but Hermione stayed wary, wand pointed straight at him. 

“I have more daggers and could cut myself free, but I find I’d rather say ‘mercy’ given that you would probably do something else to me if I attempted that.”

Hermione laughed. “Finite.” The ropes vanished and Charlie sat up. She tossed him his first wand, which he caught and quickly sheathed. 

The two of them turned to their audience and found them watching with awed expressions. Hermione realized that she’d not felt Tetsurou’s emotions the entire time, but now they came flooding back to her. He was awed, but also concerned and…sad?

“That’s what a real battle looks like, though Bellatrix will be throwing much more deadly spells than either Charlie or I did. For starters, Bellatrix would use fiendfyre, not regular flames.”

Charlie sighed next to her. “It will be tough, but I can fight her for control of it. All the advanced dragon tamers have to be able to predict it and control it since it acts like the flames of some of the more dangerous dragons.”

“That’s…reassuring.” Kuroo was sitting stiffly and she could feel the return of his unease. 

“What is fiendfyre?” Kenma was looking between the three of them in confusion.

Charlie sighed. “It’s a dark fire with a mind of its own, independent of the caster’s. It will change shape and pursue everything in its path. To stop or control it, you have to prove that your will is stronger than its will, or its caster’s will. I don’t know if I can win against Bellatrix with it, but I can at least fight her and hold her off long enough for you to escape the fire.” If it came down to that, though, the fire might consume both him and Bellatrix. Hermione swallowed, then remembered her own flight above the flames. 

“You always have your broom, right? If you duel with it.” 

Charlie nodded, then explained. “The best way to escape fiendfyre is to apparate, but that’s often not an option during a battle, because whoever started it doesn’t want the opponents to escape. Portkeys often don’t work for the same reason. So that leaves flying as the quickest route of escape. Kuroo-san, do you have a broom?”

Tetsurou sighed, “Yes, but I rarely use it.” 

“We’ll try to get you some practice then, especially practice with carrying a passenger, and I’ll show you how to charm it so that you can always carry it with you.” He paused and looked between them, “Enough about fiendfyre, though. I want to know how you two think. What did you observe about our fight?”

Tetsurou spoke first. “You fight dragons so much, you don’t rely on conventional things like shields, but instead dodge, apparate, or supposedly fly. You’ve also replicated some things from dragons—like attacking through fire. And your knives would act like their claws in close combat, though you can apparently also throw them with accuracy.” 

Kuroo paused, his eyes shifting to Hermione, but Kenma spoke up. “Granger-san calculates. Half of her spells and actions were just to see what you would do.” 

“Hermione’s spells were also mostly very simple. Things most of your fourteen-year olds could do, I’d guess. She saved the big ones, like tconjuring a pillar of ice, for when she had a plan.”

Charlie started laughing, “Go figure that Hermione’s soulmate and his best friend would be the calculating types, as well.” He grinned at them. “The only thing I would add is that it’s obvious that Hermione expects to fight multiple enemies at all times. Most witches and wizards, including myself, are used to fighting one thing at a time. She’s not, which works to her advantage. Instead of always trying to keep track of one thing, she’s trying to keep track of everything around her. So when she lost sight of me, her first thought is not to find me, but to create a dome shield. It’s also why she relies on low powered spells so much, she grew used to saving energy where she could because she always expected another enemy to appear after she finished the current one.” He turned to Hermione, “Anything to add about my style?”

“Not much,” she shook her head, “But what did you do to your dagger? My pillar shouldn’t have collapsed like that.”

“I wondered if you caught that. There’s a reason I threw my dagger at the pillar instead of trying to hit you with it. I’ve enchanted all my daggers so that if they’re thrown, they act like a miniature bombarda upon impact. It’s more precise than just using a bombarda itself, and more damaging since the spell begins at the point of the dagger, which is usually embedded in the dragon’s flesh. Hit a dragon in a weak spot with one of those and they’ll either get angry enough to do something stupid, or wary enough to calm down, and since it’s localized, it’s not quite enough damage to need to rush it to the healer’s tent.”

Hermione nodded, that certainly explained why her pillar had crumbled like that. “I see the twins aren’t the only ones who experiment.”

He gave her a sad grin, “No, no they’re not.”

“Why bring it out at all, then?” Tetsurou was frowning, clearly unhappy about him using something that could have killed her.

“They only cause the explosion if thrown, and it made Hermione wary of getting too close.”

That explanation calmed him down a bit, though Hermione trusted Charlie. He wouldn’t have thrown it if he hadn’t had a way of knowing that it wouldn’t hit her. The daggers could probably be summoned back to him at a second’s notice. She’d let him keep his secret for his knives. Undoubtedly there was a reason he hadn’t explained all the way.

Charlie turned to Hermione, “Anything else to add?” 

“Just to stress how different your style is from most witches and wizards. Most people don’t know what to do when faced with a wizard who dodges instead of shields.” She looked straight at the two volleyball players, “Use that to your advantage, both of you. Your athletic abilities and reflexes are far superior to that of a normal British witch or wizard. Charlie here is an anomaly and his dueling style uses that to his advantage. Of course, many, including Bellatrix, can cast faster than anyone can dodge, and that’s why you must be able to have a strong shield.”

Tetsurou and Kenma both nodded, then Tetsurou cocked his head to the side, “What is Lovegood-san’s style?”

Hermione groaned, “Impossible to predict, just like the girl herself.”

Tetsurou smirked, “How do you beat her then, Miss Calculating?”

“Speed.” Hermione sighed. “Luna may be unpredictable, but she’s not the fastest caster. That’s why in most scenarios she’ll probably be handling defense while Charlie does the offense.”

“Speaking of which, Kuroo-san, can you make potions that would be good in battles?”

“Like healing ones, or things like a stronger version bobbutuber puss?

Charlie laughed, “Both. Anything that does damage on contact, or within a small area so that you know it will hurt the opponent but not you.”

“Yeah, I can make those.”

“Make them and carry vials of them with you at all times. Use that strategic brain of yours and deploy them at optimal moments, alright? Play to your strengths. For you, that means plan ahead.”

“Alright.”

Charlie nodded, then turned to Hermione, “Do you want to work on his shield here, or go somewhere else?”

“We’ll probably join the others, but first, can you identify a dragon for me?”

“Anytime…” Charlie’s voice trailed off in confusion as Hermione turned to her soulmate.  
“Tetsurou, take off your shirt, would you?”

Tetsurou smirked at her, “I hardly think this is the appropriate time for that kind of thing, Hermione.” 

“Oh, stop being ridiculous.” Hermione huffed. “Take off your shirt and turn around.” 

“As you wish, Mio.” He pulled the shirt overhead, and, as much as she wanted to, Hermione couldn’t ignore how attractive he was. She pushed down her arousal, but he still smirked at her again once the shirt was off. “Like what you see?”

“Shut up and turn around, Tetsurou.”

“Hai, hai,” he did as she asked, displaying the black and gold dragon for everyone to see. 

“Holy Merlin.” Charlie gaped at it. “What I’d give to have a tattoo like that.”

“Your Mum would kill you, Charlie.”

“Don’t I know it.” He was still looking at the dragon, mesmerized. “Your mark, I presume.”

“Yeah. Hermione said she didn’t know what kind of dragon it is, though.”

“Ryujin.”

“The god of the ocean?” Kenma’s brow was furrowed.

“I don’t know which came first, the legend or the creature, but yes. That Ryujin.”

“So it’s a sea dragon?”

“Yes, found off the coast of the pacific. Really powerful one, too. Obviously, we don’t have them on the Romanian preserve, so I’ve never seen one in person.” He sighed wistfully, then became pensive as Tetsurou turned back around and began putting his shirt back on. “After you get protego down, move on to water-based offenses, like conjuring ice. Since that’s your mark, it will probably come very naturally to you both.”

Hermione nodded, “Ice was always easier for me to conjure than fire.” She paused, then added, “And Tetsurou can control the temperature of water very well.”

Charlie looked at her in exasperation, “You had him try to put out your flame, didn’t you.”

She nodded defensively, “It worked well.” She’d picked up the technique from Moody—one day after an Order meeting he had commandeered all of them and claimed that the children weren’t learning things right. He’d grumbled that since he was supposed to have taught them for a year he might as well actually teach them a few things if he had the time. 

“Moody’s tricks always do, but that doesn’t make them any less annoying.”

“That’s for sure,” Tetsurou smirked at Hermione, “But I didn’t _try_ to put her flame out, I did put it out.”

“You did?” Charlie’s eyebrows rose in surprise, then he burst out laughing, “Well, well, well, Hermione. Look who’s really the powerhouse of the relationship.”

Tetsurou’s smirk widened, and Hermione turned to Charlie. “Keep talking, please, I’ll just make the incarcerous tighter next time.”

“And that is why we will all remain terrified of you.” He shook his head in fond exasperation, “Incarcerous, normally a merciful way to end a duel, suddenly becomes very threatening.”

Hermione smiled innocently at him, then cast tempus. “There’s only about an hour left before curfew, so we better rejoin the others and work on Tetsurou’s shield some.” She turned to Charlie, “You and Luna will meet us tomorrow at the Tsukishima’s to plan further?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll see you then, Charlie.” She gave him a quick side hug, then grabbed Tetsurou’s hand and began to pull him toward the third gym where the others were most likely waiting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I had lots of fun writing the fight scene and imagining how Charlie would duel. I hope it turned out well and y'all liked it. 
> 
> More of the HP crowd will be appearing soon. :)
> 
> Sorry, y'all, but my sister is in town right now, so I won't be able to edit tomorrow. The next chapter will be posted Saturday, instead.


	18. August 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

Hermione flipped her meat on the grill. It looked like it was almost done. She had been pleasantly surprised to discover that it was tradition to grill meat for lunch on the last day of the camp. Tetsurou had woken up early this morning, excited about what she assumed was lunch, and all of the Karasuno team had been _very_ excited. It was a bit absurd, how motivated they had gotten at the mere prospect of the meat. In the last match, they had come so close to beating Fukurodani…oh well, another time. 

“Hey there, love.” Kuroo’s arm snuck around her to try to steal the meat off of the grill. She whacked his hand.

“Get your own, T-Kuroo-san.”

Too many people could hear; she should stick with his last name.

“But yours would taste better.”

“If that’s based on the assumption that women can cook better than men…”

“Just based on the assumption that you are better than me at everything except volleyball and chemistry.” He smirked at her. She gave him a very unimpressed look. He still smirked unrepentantly. Hermione’s eyes widened when she noticed the dragon fang necklace hanging around his neck. She blushed and looked away. It was…nice… to see that he liked the present so much, even if it wasn’t an important object.

“Nice cover, but you still need to get your own.” She pulled the meat off the grill and put it on her own plate, guarding it from him.

“So cruel, Granger-san.”

“Stop harassing my cousin, Kuroo-senpai.”

“Tsukki! My snarky little kouhai, would you get me some of her meat?”

“No.”

“I’m dying here.”

“Get your own, Kuroo-senpai.”

“Hmph. I’ll just go steal from Bokuto. He’s easier prey.” With that he wandered off. Hermione shook her head.

“Why can’t he just make his own?”

“He’s too catlike. He has to rummage for his food.”

“By that logic all of Karasuno should be rummaging as well, since you’re crows.”

Kei shrugged, “We like our mascot, but we don’t take sympathize with it at nearly the same level as Kuroo-sepai and Kenma-san do.”

Hermione looked at him questioningly, “Kenma-san, too?”

“He hasn’t cooked any meat either." Kei waved vaguely toward where Kenma was sitting. "He just keeps playing his game and eating what Hinata puts on his plate.”

Hermione giggled, watching the two friends over by the steps. Kageyama was with them, too, and from the look of it he was trying to get Kenma to talk about setter things. Kenma was, of course, ignoring him. “That’s kind of adorable.”

“The pet cat and the stray cat.” 

“Poor Kuroo-san.”

“I notice you didn’t question which one is the stray.”

Hermione shrugged, unrepentant, “One is foraging, the other being fed without asking. In this scenario, it’s clear which is which.”

_I'm glad she thinks I’m the tough cat._

He’d heard her thoughts about the conversation? 

There was a loud uproar from the other side of the grills. Apparently Tetsurou had succeeded in getting Bokuto’s meat and, surprise, Bokuto hadn’t appreciated it. 

Tetsurou returned to them, grinning, a few seconds later. “Mission accomplished. The stray cat was successful in procuring the food.”

Kei’s eyes narrowed, “How did you…?” He sighed, “Nevermind. It will probably just annoy me if I knew.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and decided to ignore her cousin, turning to Tetsurou instead, “Will there be another mission? I highly doubt you’re satisfied with whatever you just managed to steal.”

“Eh, maybe in a couple of minutes. I’ve got to lure him into complacency again.”

“Ano…guys?” Yamaguchi walked up to them. “Do you think someone should help Yachi-san?” She looks a bit overwhelmed…”

Hermione glanced to where he was pointing and saw the girl surrounded by some of the taller players from Ubagawa. She sighed. “I’ll go help her.”

She walked over and tentatively called out, “Yachi-san?”

Immediately the girl turned to her, tears in her eyes. “Granger-san! Don’t let them eat me!”

“Eat you?” Hermione looked at the tall boys, all of whom shrugged. “Why don’t you came stand with me and grill yourself some meat there.” Yachi-san nodded tearfully, but when she realized that Hermione was leading her over toward Tetsurou she froze up again.

“Granger-san, I know you like Kuroo-san, but he is a little….ano…”

Hermione sighed, “scary?”

Yachi nodded fervently. “Do you want to stand next to Yamaguchi-san, then? He’s not scary, is he?” He was at least the shortest of the three boys.

“Can I?”

“Of course, Yachi-san.” This arrangement appeared not only to appease Yachi, but also please Yamaguchi, who looked considerably happy at Yachi’s chosen position. Hermione wondered if the boy had a crush on the easily-frightened first year, but she decided to leave it alone. From Tetsurou’s expression, though, the only reason he wasn’t teasing him was Kei’s warning glare. 

Kei really was ridiculously protective of his friends. 

When their lunch was coming to an end, though, Tetsurou turned to her, “Come with me? I have something to give you.” 

Something to give her? The traditional present. But they’d been stuck here all week, so what could he have gotten her? 

He smirked at her curiosity. “Coming?” She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. He was avoiding eye contact, preventing her from catching a memory. 

“How did you get me a present?” 

“It’s a surprise.” He laughed at Hermione’s disgruntled expression. “You don’t like surprises then?” He flashed a smirk over his shoulder, “That’s good to know.”

She glared at his back but followed him. 

When they reached the Nekoma team’s room he ducked inside, telling her to wait for a minute. Hermione tapped her foot impatiently, trying to ignore the curious glances and giggles from the few players walking around. 

He emerged shortly, carrying a small box. “Come on,” he took her hand and pulled her toward what Hermione assumed was an empty classroom. “I want you to open it in private.” Whatever it was, then, must be magical. Once the classroom door shut behind her, he handed her the box.

“You can open it now.” She took it, looking at him curiously, but he just radiated smug confidence.

She opened the box.

Inside was a tiny dragon, shaped like the ryujin of their mark, but made of ice. When she touched it, it began to move, curling around her wrist to form a bracelet. It didn’t feel too cold, though there was a slight chill. Hermione held it up to look at it more closely and admired the detail. Each scale stood out in the ice.

“It’s beautiful.” 

“I know, right?” Tetsurou was grinning at her. She looked up and met his eyes. 

_“Bro, you’re such a sap.”_

_“Shut up and help me.” Tetsurou ran a hand through his hair. “What spells do I need?”_

She blinked. The pain was less, now, just a small headache. “It was nice of Bokuto-san to help you.”

“Tch.” Tetsurou shook his head, “he was a jerk about it, though. Kept teasing me.” He rubbed the back of his head, “Bokuto put a notice-me-not on it, so you can wear it all the time. And its scales will start to rattle if you’re approached by someone who is a threat.”

Hermione hugged him. “Arigatou, Tetsu.” He seemed surprised, but returned the hug, resting his head on hers. 

“I’m glad you like it.”

“I love it.” He’d worked so hard, she couldn’t believe he’d been able to make something like this. It was beautiful, but also made to help her stay safe. And he must have spent so much time on it…Before she had time to analyze her desire or lose her courage, Hermione pulled herself up and kissed him quickly before stepping back. 

Happiness. Contentment. Pride. Arousal. Mischief. Tetsurou was smirking at her, “Does that mean I can kiss you whenever I want, now, Mio?”

Hermione swallowed, turning bright red. “Don’t push your luck.” She paused, looking away from him, “in special moments, though… that’s fine.”

“Special moments, hmmm?” He stepped forward, his hands gently resting on her arms. “I guess I’ll just have to create a lot of those.”

Hermione huffed, “If there’s a lot of anything, it’s not special anymore.”

“So I can’t spoil you, then?” His voice was light, teasing, but the emotions underneath…were intense. Hermione didn’t quite know how to deal with them.

Hermione refused to look up. She knew from his emotions what she’d see, what that expression would make her feel. “What spells did you use for the bracelet?”

He sighed, but she could feel him reigning in his arousal. “The base was draco geli, then I charmed that dragon to become a bracelet.” He took a step back and ran a hand through his hair. “It took me forever to get it right. At first, I was trying with other materials, but after what Weasley-san said last night about ice…it all started falling into place.” 

“Then is _this_ why you were so excited this morning?”

He shrugged, “Yeah, though I was fine with you assuming it was the lunch.” He grinned at her, “It made hiding it from you until now easier, at least.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “I’m glad I made it easy for you.” 

Tetsurou smirked at her, then it slid off his face. Hermione watched him, a bit confused by his mood change. “While I have you here…” he sighed, “I’ve been meaning to ask, how much of last night’s dream was reality?” The Department of Mysteries. “You’d told me how you got that scar, but…”

It was one thing to hear her say it, and another thing to experience it through a dream.

“All of it.” Unlike the others, this one had remained fairly close to reality.

Tetsurou switched to Japanese, cursing most likely. Then he sighed and tilted his head back and, almost as if he was talking to himself, asked, “You’d follow him through anything, wouldn’t you?”

“I would. I have. But Tetsu,” his emotions were swirling between pride, frustration, and jealousy, “I may have only known you a week, but I would follow you through anything, too.”

He stared at her for a second, as if trying to gauge her sincerity, but in the end all he said was, “Arigatou.” He sighed, then let his arms drop. “We should probably go pack our things. If we stay here too much longer, you’ll be late for the bus.”

“Right.” She gave him a quick hug, “I packed this morning, actually, but I should go get my things.”

“Same here. I’ll meet you by your bus to say goodbye.”

Goodbye. That felt odd…wrong. Hermione nodded stiffly. At least it wasn’t goodbye quite yet. 

“I’ll see you at the bus, then.”

Neither of them moved. Hermione shook her head. This was ridiculous. She moved toward the door. “See you then.”

Hermione was quick to gather her few things that were still scattered about, then headed toward the buses. Kei-kun and Yamaguchi were already there, but the others were nowhere to be seen. Kei nodded his head in a greeting but didn’t take his headphones off. Hermione rolled her eyes and was about to pull out a book, but she stopped when she felt Tetsurou approaching. 

“Did you last the five minutes without me?” He leaned against the bus with one arm, facing her.

“You know, somehow I managed.”

He sighed melodramatically, “You know, there’s a relationship milestone that we have neglected quite dreadfully.”

“Oh?” Since there relationship was anything but normal, she honestly had no clue which milestone he was talking about. 

Tetsurou smirked at her mischievously, then pulled out his phone, “Can I have your number?”

Hermione rolled her eyes, “Of course.” She pulled out her own phone. “I don’t actually have it memorized, though, so give me a second.” Tetsurou laughed, but waited silently as she fidgeted with the buttons, “Found it.” She gave him the numbers and he quickly typed them in, then sent her a text of a cat emoji. 

Hermione laughed at it. “Could you have been a bit more creative?” 

“Oya? You want creative?” His answering grin was mischievous, but then his eyes flicked over her shoulder. “Incoming.”

She turned around to see Bokuto bounding toward them. “Hey, hey, hey! You’ll come visit us, won’t you Granger-san?”

“I will, but probably not for a while.” Not until they caught Bellatrix. She didn’t want to paint targets on their backs.

Bokuto sulked, but Akaashi nodded his thanks. “We wish you both good luck with everything. If you need anything, just ask.”

“Thank you.” 

Akaashi nodded again, then started to drag his sulking teammate to the Fukurodani bus where their team was already beginning to congregate. 

It looked like some of the Karasuno members were on their way to the bus, too. Hermione turned to Tetsurou. “I know I’ll talk to you soon, but it still feels odd to leave you after having seen each other practically nonstop this past week.”

“I know what you mean.” He sighed. “Now that I have your number, though, I can bug you constantly.”

Hermione suddenly wondered if giving him her phone number had been a bad idea, but it was too late now. 

“Be careful?” Even if it was just a short period of time, he was going to be without a guard. Charlie and Luna would have to tail them in order to find the Tsukishimas’ house.

“I will, but I’ve been meaning to ask, do you mind if Kenma’s in the room when we talk tonight? I don’t like leaving him alone.”

“That should be fine.”

“Thanks.” The two of them stood there awkwardly, trying to ignore the Karasuno members that kept sneaking looks at them. Finally Tetsurou sighed, then pulled her in for a hug. Hermione ignored the wolf whistles as she returned it.

He pulled back and gave her his trademark smirk, “Talk to you tonight, alright?”

She smiled and nodded, but still bit her lip with worry as he turned to walk to his own bus. She absently rubbed her arm.

Kei’s hand closed around her wrist. He gave her a knowing look, then picked up her suitcase and went onto the bus. Hermione sighed and followed him, ignoring his teammates who were still snickering about the hug. 

“You can have the window seat.” 

Hermione looked at her cousin, startled. “But don’t you always—"

“Just take it, Hermione-neesan. Before I regret my decision.”

“Thank you.” She slipped into the seat, then pulled out a book—a longer one this time so that she wouldn’t finish before the trip ended. Kei set their luggage in the seats across the aisle, then sat down next to her, already pulling up his headphones. 

The other members began to board, then, and it wasn’t long before Coach Ukai did a head count and the bus began to roll away from the school. 

Her phone buzzed. 

**Tetsu:** Try to enjoy the Tokyo scenery!

Hermione frowned, then asked him how he knew she had a window seat, it wasn’t like she could see him outside.

 **Tetsu:** Tsukki’s too protective. He wouldn’t let you face the horrors of teasing that would occur in the aisle seat. 

She smiled. It really was nice that he knew her cousin so well.

The first hour went smoothly, but after that Hermione began to feel an emptiness of sorts creep upon her. Tetsurou’s emotions felt muted, and she could only make out a rough direction that he was in. She swallowed. It was not a pleasant feeling and she was having trouble focusing on the book. 

Her phone vibrated, but she didn’t know the number.

 **???:** This is Kenma. Kuro’s being weird and depressed. More than I thought he would be. Are you ok?

So Tetsurou was feeling it, too. She quickly saved Kenma’s number, then responded that the distance seemed to be affecting their bond. Kenma never responded.

She felt…lost. Like something was slowly slipping out of her grasp and she couldn’t stop it. Kei kept giving her a worried look, but Hermione just focused on breathing steadily and ignoring the intensifying feeling of loneliness. 

When the bus stopped next to their own gym, Hermione had rarely felt so impatient. She walked quickly toward the Tsukishima’s house, ignoring Yamaguchi’s confused looks and Kei’s frequent sighs. 

Once they got there, Yamaguchi gave them a quick farewell, giving the newly grown mushrooms in the yard a strange look. “That’s odd. Aren’t those the same mushrooms we saw around camp? I’ve never seen them anywhere before.”

Kei shrugged. “Bokuto-san said he used to pick them with his grandparents, so I doubt they’re too rare.” 

“Oh. Well, see you next week!” Yamaguchi waved goodbye, then headed down the road. 

Hermione waited a few seconds, then turned to her cousin. “I’m going to head back to the gym to get Tetsurou, Kei-kun.”

“At least say hi to my mom, first.” Kei grabbed her shoulders and began steering her toward the door. “Besides, Yamaguchi will see you if you go back on the road right now.” 

Hermione groaned, but couldn’t deny that, so she went inside. Her aunt gave her a hug, but when Hermione explained that she needed to go back to the gym to pick up Tetsurou, she was quickly shooed out.

And she promptly felt like she was being followed. 

The lights flickered in front of her, then the shadow of a dragon formed on the ground. Charlie. Hermione relaxed a bit, but still kept her guard up as she made her way back to the gym.

Thankfully it seemed like everyone was gone, so she sent a quick text to Tetsurou, letting him know he could come. It wasn’t exactly like they had planned, but….

The feeling of _rightness_ crashed into place as she heard the crack of apparition. She flung herself into his arms.

“Woah, careful there.” His arms circled around her. “Missed me, huh?”

“That felt _horrid_.”

“Yeah, Kenma had a terrible time keeping me from just apparating straight here after the first two hours.”

That explained the text. And why he hadn’t bothered to ever reply.

“That would not have gone over well. The team was all over the place when we first arrived…” Without knowing the right spells, there was no way Tetsurou could have stayed hidden.

“I know, I know…it just wasn’t the most pleasant feeling.”

Hermione shuddered, “We’ll have to figure out what to do about that.” She turned toward Tetsurou’s quiet friend, who was currently looking at his surroundings with feigned curiosity. “Arigatou, Kenma-san.”

He nodded. “Douitashimashite.”

“Let me disillusion you two, then we can head to the Tsukishima’s.” She pulled out her wand, casting the spell first on Tetsurou so that Kenma could see it. His eyes were bright with curiosity.

“It’s like he’s not there, but…If I focus I can still see him.”

Hermione smiled, “Exactly.” She held her wand out towards him, its tip pointed slightly away. “Ready?” He eyed her wand warily, but nodded, so she cast the spell. “Follow me.”

She took the trip back more slowly, letting the other two familiarize themselves with the path and giving Tetsurou the chance to look for some closer apparition points. 

The walk still didn’t take too long, though, and they soon arrived at the Tsukishima’s. Hermione opened the door, leaving it open for a while so that Tetsurou and Kenma could get inside. “Tadaima!” She called out, then cast the finite and Tetsurou and Kenma became visible again just as her aunt bustled into the room, the rest of the family behind her. Unease began rolling off Tetsurou in waves. 

“Minna, this is Kuroo Tetsurou and Koozume Kenma.” She gestured to each of the boys in turn, then reversed the introduction, “Tetsurou, Kenma-san, this is Tsukishima Sarah, Riku, and Akiteru.” She paused, but from the raised eyebrows she’d gotten for using Tetsurou’s name she knew she’d have to explain a bit more than she had on the phone. “Ano…witches and wizards have soulmates. We can tell when we meet each other. Tetsurou is mine.”

Understanding flooded her aunt’s eyes. “So that’s what you didn’t want to explain over the phone! Well, that’s just wonderful.” She turned to Tetsurou “It’s nice to meet you.”

There was a knock at the door and Hermione quickly went to answer it. Tetsurou could handle the Tsukishimas for a minute or two. She cast homenum revelio, revealing five people outside the door. Hermione frowned. She had thought Viktor wouldn’t get here until later…? 

She opened the door to see Bill, but everyone else was wisely invisible. “Who is buried outside your cottage?”

Bill smiled softly at her, “Dobby, a free elf.” He pulled her into a hug. “Good to see you again, Hermione.”

“Good to see you, too, Bill. Everyone, come inside, quickly.” She stepped aside, letting whoever was last close the door. 

She blinked in surprise when the figures revealed themselves. “Neville! I didn’t know you would be coming.”

“Well I heard who was after you, and…I know it’s best if fewer people come so she has fewer targets and people to trace and everything, but I couldn’t not come. Not when it’s them.”

“I understand, Neville. Thank you.” He nodded at her. She looked between Bill, Charlie, Luna, Neville, and Draco Malfoy. The latter definitely stood out with his black formal clothes, but only the slightest tightness at his mouth gave away his disgust at being in a muggle home. The dragon was rattling softly against her wrist, not that it was too much of a surprise. She knew Malfoy was a threat. 

Hermione sighed. “Introductions, then?” She went through all of the names, saving Tetsurou for last. 

Malfoy flicked his wrist.

Hermione felt the tingling sensation of the glamour evaporating on her arm and neck and quickly hid her arm, as did Tetsurou, but the damage had been done. 

Everyone had seen the scars etched into their arms and necks. 

Her aunt gasped, and silence filled the room. 

Tetsurou’s rage was clouding her mind. Kei and the Weasley brothers looked like they were about to punch Malfoy. 

Malfoy, however, remained calm. “So it’s true. A trial by fire bond.” 

“Did you have to do that, Malfoy?”

“We need to know what we’re protecting, Granger.”

“And I would have told you! You didn’t need to show everyone our scars.” 

He shrugged, unrepentant. “How many abilities do you share then, Granger? Three, five, or seven?” 

She glared at him. She wanted to tell him that it was none of his business, but she knew he was right. That information would be important to the people guarding him.

Malfoy flicked his wrist again, this time casting with his wand. Her own shield sprung up around Tetsurou and she stepped between the two of them.

Malfoy rolled his eyes, loosely dangling his wand from his hand. “Three, five, or seven, Granger? Tell me or I’ll just keep testing you. We need to know how tightly you two are connected.”

“Seven.”

Malfoy closed his eyes in annoyance. “Of course.” His wand disappeared back up his sleeve. “So if he dies, you die.” Silence greeted that pronouncement. Kenma took a step closer to Tetsurou, something which Malfoy definitely noticed. When he spoke though, it was just to question her again. “Which seven?”

“Pain, emotion, location, thoughts, memories, dreams, and mark.” Hermione sighed. “Bellatrix knows. She took it from George’s mind.”

“Bloody hell, Granger. Could you make yourself more difficult to protect?” He rubbed his eyes, “and drop the shield, already. I won’t hurt your bonded, the oath won’t let me.”

Hermione gave him a wary look, but let the shield dissipate. “Speaking of which." She pulled out a piece of paper from her bag and passed it to him. “I consider everyone on that list a friend. Hurt them in any way and you’ve violated your oath.” His eyes scanned the list, memorizing the names, and then he cast incendio and banished the ashes.

Hermione appreciated his caution, at least.

She turned to her aunt, whose face was pale. “Perhaps we could go sit at the table? It might be a bit more comfortable.” 

Her aunt started, “Of course!” She looked around at all the people. “I’m afraid the table will be a bit tight, though…”

“I can handle that. If you would be so kind as to get the food?” Her aunt had mentioned that she’d planned a dinner for them. Her aunt bustled off, her husband and Akiteru following. Kei looked torn between the two groups, but at a nod from Hermione he followed after them.

Hermione stepped away from Tetsurou to lead the group to the dining area. She was about to draw her wand, but Bill’s hand on her wrist stopped her. 

“I’ll do the wizard space, Hermione. You should rest your magic when you can, the bond is likely drawing a lot of magic and your duel with Charlie last night wouldn’t have helped things.”

“Thank you, Bill.” A few waves of his wand had the room and table expanding, and Luna conjured some purple chairs with bizarre swirls and hooved legs. 

Malfoy made a face at Luna’s chairs, pulling his own wand out to conjure a plain black one for himself. 

“You dueled Charlie?” Neville looked between the two of them. “Who won?”

Charlie laughed, loud and boisterous. “She did of course. The girl’s far more unpredictable than a dragon.”

Tetsurou sat down on one of the purple chairs, then pulled Hermione next to him. She rolled her eyes but didn’t protest. After being away from him for so long she felt the need to be as close as possible. Kenma gave the chairs a disgruntled look but sat down next to Tetsurou without saying anything. Hermione was amused to see Bill and Charlie sit down on either side of Malfoy, purposefully flanking him. 

Tetsurou held his arm out to her, “Would you redo it? I had Bokuto do it, usually…I can’t seem to figure it out myself.”

“We’ll work on it.” She pulled out her wand and did the glamour on his arm and neck. 

When the Tsukishimas came back in they were clearly startled to see the expanded space, but her aunt just thanked them and set the food on the table. Kei immediately sat next to her, glaring at Malfoy. 

“What do you think will be your aunt’s first move?”

“Him.” Malfoy gestured toward Tetsurou. “He’s your obvious weak spot. The muggles are, too, but she’ll have more fun torturing a bonded pair. She’s done it before, you know.” His eyes flickered toward Neville. Hermione paled. She hadn’t realized.

“She won’t do it again.” Neville’s voice was calm, determined.

“Why? Just because you’re grown up and have a wand? Get over yourself, Longbottom. The chances are high that Granger and her partner will end up just like your parents. It’s not like your parents didn’t have wards or protections in place, and Granger’s bond is stronger than theirs was. My aunt may be insane, but that just makes her more dangerous, and she has Rabastan and Rodolphus at her side, just like she did that night. The only person missing from that merry crew is Crouch Jr., and they can do it without him.”

“What did they do? What do you think they’ll do again?” Kenma’s voice was quiet, almost desperate. It broke her heart.

The wizards eyed Neville uncomfortably. 

Luna spoke, “Neville’s parents have too many nargles in their heads. They don’t recognize anything anymore.”

Hermione could tell Kenma was still confused, but he didn’t repeat his question, just shifted his eyes to Neville. 

The silence stretched out as Neville seemed to be wrestling with what to say. Finally, he spoke, “My parents had a three-fold trial by fire bond. Harry’s probably did, too.” Born to those who thrice defied Voldemort. It made sense. “The Lestranges tortured them for hours when I was little, and since then I’ve visited them every month my whole life. They’ve never even noticed I was there. A cure may be discovered, one day, but…” he trailed off, then glared at Malfoy, “I don’t care what you say, I won’t let that happen again.”

Tetsurou wrapped his arm around her shoulders. 

Malfoy stared at Neville for a second, then sighed. “Forgive me, I’d forgotten I was dealing with Gryffindors.” That got a glare from all four of the Gryffindors present, but he ignored them. “She won’t touch the muggles. Not at first. She’ll either want to torture them with Granger watching or she’ll use them as bait if she gets impatient.” 

“That’s…helpful to know.” Even if she wished he hadn’t been so blasé about Bellatrix kidnapping her relatives just to torture them in front of her. “Thank you for the insight.” 

Bill sighed, then began to brief them on the steps he’d already taken. Hermione was surprised to find out that he and Malfoy had actually arrived yesterday and begun warding not only the house, but also the school and the buildings where the Tsukishimas worked. Akiteru’s college, however, had been a bit tricky. They’d put some on his dorm, but that had been it. 

“Bellatrix and the others won’t attack a muggle building full of people. They stand out too much in the muggle world, and they won’t know how to guarantee that they’ll get their target. She will attack you en route or at home. We have a person assigned to each of you for those times. That person must know where you are at all times, alright? In case something happens, they need to be able to reach you in seconds. Hermione and Kei-san, you will either need to be together at all times, or at home with someone else from the family. Alright?” 

Hermione nodded, that wouldn’t be too hard. She and Kei had practically identical schedules, anyway. “Bellatrix is least likely to capture Riku-san because he shares no blood with Hermione. For that reason, Malfoy will be guarding him. Out of all of us, we want his presence to be unknown because the second Bellatrix knows he’s here is the second that we lose any ability of predicting her movements.”

She could tell that the Tsukishimas weren’t happy that Malfoy would be guarding any of them, but that they understood the logic. 

Malfoy sighed, then drew his wand and pointed it at the ceiling. “I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, swear to protect Riku Tsukishima to the best of my ability, so mote it be.” 

Hermione stared at him. What he’d done was hardly an unbreakable vow, but to make any vow to protect a muggle… “Thank you.” Even if he didn’t think her uncle was going to be in any danger, she still appreciated it.

Bill looked at Malfoy strangely, then continued. “Hermione, Neville will be with you and Kei-san. I’ll be with Akiteru-san, and Viktor, who should arrive late tomorrow night, will watch Sarah-san. Charlie will watch Kuroo-san and Luna will watch Kenma-san.

He turned to Tetsurou, “You are friends with the Akaashi family, yes?” Tetsurou nodded. “Would they be willing to help me to make the wards even stronger?”

Tetsurou snorted, “Yes. I’ve already talked to Akaashi Keiji about that.”

“Great." Bill nodded, rubbing his chin as he was thinking, "How can I contact him?”

“I have his number.” Bill stared at him. The rest of the wizards looked equally clueless.

Hermione giggled. “The telephone, Bill. Your dad has one in his shed.”

“So it’s a muggle thing?" 

Charlie spoke up on his brother's behalf, "Dad has lots of things in that shed, Hermione, and he doesn’t know anything about any of them.”

“It’s like my mirror, but just carries voices. You need a person’s number to contact them, though, like you need a building’s name for the floo network.”

Bill frowned. “That doesn’t sound like the mirror at all, Hermione.”

She groaned. Of course the wizards couldn't understand technology. “I’ll show you later, Bill, alright? You’ll be able to contact him.”

“Alright…” He was clearly still confused, but decided to continue, this time addressing the Tsukishimas. “Hermione said she’d given you all portkeys, you’re wearing them at all times, right?”

“Oh, very legal, Granger.”

“Shut up, Malfoy.”

Bill cleared his throat, interrupting their dispute before Malfoy could add more, “Hermione, can you make one for Kenma-san and Kuroo-san, too?”

“Yes, but I’ll need some durable fabric first.”

Charlie spoke up, “I have some dragonhide.” 

“Of course you do.” She smiled at him, “That will work, Charlie. Thank you.”

“We have something else to pass around, as well.” Bill pulled out a bag of galleon necklaces and passed it to Malfoy. “Everyone take the one with your name. As the lovely Hermione knows since this was her idea way back at the start of the war, we can link the coins together so that if you tap one,” he did so and Hermione felts hers warm up, “they all will react. Now, we’ve added to her spell a bit. If you turn it over to the other side, you’ll see my name since I activated it. If you are in an emergency, tap once and your guard will come immediately. If you need to go somewhere and it was unplanned, tap twice and they’ll return as soon as they can. This charm will bypass all wards. We will be using these, too, as we search for Bellatrix and the others. Try not to accidentally tap it, but if you do, touch it again three times. That will cancel the spell and let us know it was a false alarm. Any questions?”

They all shook their heads, so Bill continued. “Wear them so that you will always feel it. If you’d like them to be something other than a necklace, see me afterwards and I’ll change it. Don’t do it yourself because you might mess up the spellwork.”

Bill looked around the group, making sure that they all were paying attention and didn't look confused. “That settles it for the defensive plans. Now for the offensive. When we aren’t guarding you all, we’re each going to be searching for the Lestranges. If we find information, we’ll tap these coins and gather at our pre-decided spot. If we are there, we may not be able to take you anywhere quickly. Of course, if you do the one-touch emergency tap, we will drop everything and come immediately.”

Bill sighed and sat back, finally taking a small bite of his neglected food. “That’s pretty much it for the offensive plan.” Hermione doubted that, but she understood wanting to play it safe and keep it from their minds just in case. “We’ll adjust it as new information comes.”

“Thank you. You’ve…” Hermione’s aunt paused, looking for the right words. “You’ve dropped everything to come help us, and I appreciate it. My whole family does.”

“Hermione has saved my family’s lives. We will always be here for her.” Neville and Luna voiced their ascent. Malfoy was silent, but she hardly expected an oath of loyalty from him.

Her Aunt looked around the group, “Do you all need a place to stay…?”

Charlie spoke up this time, letting his brother take a break so that he could eat his food. “We actually wanted to talk to you about that. Do you mind if one of us sleeps on the couch in the front? It would be best if at least one person was inside at night. If you don’t mind us setting up a tent outside, the others can sleep in there.”

“A tent?” Her aunt frowned, horrified at the idea of having guests stay outside. 

Hermione laughed. “Wizarding tents are actually huge inside, about the size of a nice apartment. They have separate rooms and can be made invisible so that no one will see them.”

“Oh. I see. That…would work nicely, then.”

Charlie nodded, “Wonderful. Bill brought the family’s, so we’ll set that up in a bit. We’ll take turns sleeping and staying awake to guard.”

Bill swallowed the last of his food on the plate, “That’s it for our plans so far, then. We’ll try our best to find her before school starts again, but this plan should account for that scheduling, as well.”

“Thank you all very much, but…” Hermione sighed, “Tetsurou and I ran into an issue today that we need to address.”

They all turned to look at her, and Hermione bit her lip. How should she bring this up? I feel lonely and empty without him nearby? That just sounded like she was whinging...

“You can’t be very far from each other for long, can you, Granger?” Startled, Hermione looked at Malfoy and found his grey eyes watching her carefully.

“Just how do you know so much about soulbonds, Malfoy? I thought most purebloods hated them.”

“Not all of us appreciate the person to whom we are betrothed.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh.” That…explained a lot. He’d been researching them so that he could avoid marrying someone he hated. “Sorry. Did you…?”

“It’s none of your business.” She winced. 

“Right.” Hermione sighed, “Anyway, you’re correct. About an hour after we separated, Tetsurou and I both… began to feel the effects of the separation. It was not a pleasant feeling. We can deal with it for a while, but…”

“If you stay apart too long the emptiness will drive you both insane.”

Hermione winced. “I hadn’t wanted to conjecture that far.”

“Pureblood libraries are filled with warning tales of the dangers of soulbonds to convince their young heirs to avoid them.”

“How long do we have?”

“You’ve accepted the bond, right?”

She nodded.

He frowned, looking pensive, “It’s a deep bond, though, and not fully formed. Most likely a day. You could try for longer, but I doubt you want to risk that.”

“No.” Tetsurou’s voice was firm. 

“Kuroo-san can sleep in the tent with us, but that leaves only one guard in Tokyo at night.”

“There will be a bunch of you here at night, right? I don’t see the problem with Charlie staying in Tokyo. Luna will need someone to take a night shift so that she can sleep.”

Charlie spoke up, “I think that will work. Kuroo-san can apparate from me to Neville so that someone is always watching him.”

“Brilliant. Then we just need a place he can work on spells in peace.”

Tetsurou sighed, running a hand through his hair, “I need to be back at my place some, too, if I’m going to brew healing potions or anything else.”

“You’re good at potions?” Malfoy was looking at him speculatively. “How good?”

“I’m scheduled to test for my mastery over winter break.” Hermione smiled at her soulmate's proud smirk. He clearly enjoyed the surprise British wizards always had when confronted with the fact that Japanese wizards took mastery tests so soon.

Malfoy frowned, lost in thought, then conjured a piece of parchment and a quill. Hermione's eyebrow rose as the Slytherin ignored them all to write down a list of things, which he passed to Tetsuroo. “Can you make the antidotes to those?”

Tetsurou’s eyes scanned over the parchment. Hermione could feel his disgust over what he saw, but all he said was, “For everything except the last one, yes.”

Malfoy nodded, “Good.” Hermione could tell from his eyes that his respect for her soulmate had just risen a bit. “Rabastan favors potions and will likely have on him everything on that list. The last one is his own invention. I’ve seen its effect and know some of the ingredients, but not all. If you can figure out an antidote to that, it would be helpful.” Malfoy summoned another parchment and wrote some things down, then passed it over. 

Tetsurou glanced over the list, and Hermione felt horror coming from him in waves, but he just nodded said he’d look into it.

“Anyone else have anything to contribute?” Bill looked around the table.

“There will be an infestation of jabberknolls tomorrow.”

Everyone stared at Luna.

Hermione decided she might as well try to work with that. “Thank you, Luna. How can we best defend against these…jabberknolls?”

“Oh Hermione.” Luna smiled at her serenely. “I know you want to protect people, but you can’t. Not from these. They will come, they will wreak havoc, they they will leave, and then there will be fewer.”

“Is their presence a good or bad thing?”

Luna laughed. “Bad, of course, but it will be good, too. Like all things.”

That was... not helpful in the least. She gave her friend a strained smile, “I’m afraid I don’t understand, Luna.”

“No, but you will.” 

Malfoy sneered at the Ravenclaw. “Now that we’ve had that lovely…advice, where’s the tent, Weasley? I want to call it a night.”

Charlie sighed. “I’ll go set it up.” He disappeared out of the room, Malfoy following after him.

Luna stood up next, “I need to go prepare for the jabberknolls.” She turned to Kenma and smiled at him. “Don’t worry. You will never be alone, I promise.” Kenma’s eyes widened, but he nodded. Luna grinned, skipping from the room. 

Hermione’s aunt and uncle excused themselves, but Akiteru and Kei stayed.

As the only British wizards left in the room, Bill and Neville shifted uneasily. Bill turned to address the people he didn’t know. “Now that all the business is out of the way, I’d like to do a bit more personal of a greeting. Hermione’s been best friends with my little brother since she was eleven, so she’s practically a little sister to me, now.” He turned to the Tsukishima brothers and gave them a small bow, “Thank you for opening up your home to her and providing her with a space to escape the war, despite any personal risk.”

Kei and Akiteru awkwardly tried to deny their responsibility in it, but Hermione knew that the two would have welcomed her without their mother’s insistence.

Bill turned to Tetsurou and his grin turned a bit more mischievous. “As for you, soulmate or not, hurt her and know that the entire Weasley clan will find a way around the soulbond in order to get back at you.” He shrugged, “Of course, she’s likely to beat us to it.”

“I’ll add my name to that, actually.” Neville grinned at Tetsurou good-naturedly.

“Just…out of curiosity, how many of you Weasleys are there? Hermione’s never said.”

Bill shrugged, “Depends on how you count. There’s mum and dad, Charlie, Percy, George, Ron, Ginny, my wife Fleur and the little one we’re expecting, and then Ginny’s soulmate is Harry Potter, who was already practically family anyway.”

“Right.” 

Bill gave him a sharp grin, “You may be wary of Charlie and me, but you should also be wary of Neville, here.” He clapped him on the back. “He has a green thumb and I’m sure you realize that can be a dangerous thing in the wizarding world.”

Tetsurou eyed Neville, then stuck out his hand, “As a potion’s expert, I can definitely see the usefulness for that and respect it.”

Neville grinned and shook his hand, but Kei eyed the group in confusion. “Why is a green thumb dangerous?”

Hermione shrugged. That was... difficult to explain. “Let’s just say that everyone thinks it’s completely normal at Hogwarts that we have a plant on our campus that will literally bludgeon you with its limbs if you get too close.” She'd probably have to lend Kei a book on magical plants, next.

Kenma blinked. Kei frowned as he tried to understand why that would exist, and Akiteru spoke up, his voice troubled, “But isn’t that child endangerment?”

Hermione shrugged, “It could be worse.” She turned to the British wizards, “Neville, Bill, did you ever find the whomping willow odd?”

Neville looked at her in confusion, “No…it’s just part of Hogwarts.” Bill nodded his agreement.

“And there you have it. There are loads of dangerous plants like that that wizards think are completely normal.” Hermione was glad that others could see wizarding craziness for what it was, even if she now somewhat understood the wizarding perspective.

Neville grinned awkwardly. “It makes sense that we do things that confuse you guys, since non-magical things confuse me all the time. To be honest, you are the first non-magical people I’ve met.”

“You’re that isolated?” Kei was staring at Neville in shock.

Bill nodded, “Yeah, I met Hermione’s parents once, but…” he shrugged, “other than that, you are the first I’ve met as well.” He grinned, “So it’s nice to meet all three of you. A piece of advice, though, if you ever see my dad, an older gentleman with red hair, run in the opposite direction. He’s obsessed with all things muggle and will ask you endless questions.”

Hermione laughed, and Bill turned to her. “And speaking of not understanding muggle things, Hermione, would you explain the number thing now?”

The number thing? She gave him a blank look, so he elaborated, “To contact the Akaashi family?”

Kei snickered, and Hermione rolled her eyes in fond exasperation. “You need a specific set of numbers to reach someone through a telephone.” She pulled hers out. “Here, you use this one. If I’m always going to be with Kei-kun, home, or with Tetsurou, people can reach me that way.” She flipped it open, then patiently taught them how to use it. It already had Tetsurou’s, Kenma’s, and the Tsukishima’s numbers, but she still had to borrow Tetsurou’s phone to add Akaashi’s and Bokuto’s numbers.

“I just touch this button next to their name and it will contact them?” 

“Yes.” She sighed, “You’ll hear a strange noise, and if they’re busy they might not answer, but you can leave a voice message for them and they will get that.”

“Alright…” He sighed. “I’ll probably have a lot more questions, just so you know.”

“Ask Akiteru,” she motioned to the older Tsukishima, “it will give you something to talk about and a way to get to know each other.” At least Akiteru would be far more willing to explain technology without inserting sarcastic comments like Kei would. 

“Speaking of things we don’t understand, umm… Hermione, could you…” Neville sighed. “What’s a gym?” 

Kei and Kenma's eyes widened and Tetsurou burst out laughing. “Bill said that Harry said you often went there with your cousin, so I should get to know it, but…”

Kei snickered, “Hermione-neesan, I take back everything I ever said about you being clueless.” 

Next to him, Tetsurou shook his head in mock dismay, “Man, you British wizards really are an isolated bunch, aren’t you?” 

“Ignore them, Neville.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s a place where people can exercise. Tetsurou, Kenma-san, and Kei-kun play a muggle sport and practice it at the gym.”

“Oh! So it’s like their quidditch pitch?”

“Yes, but you can play more than one sport there.” She turned to her cousin, who was still snickering. “Kei-kun, do you have practice tomorrow?”

He shook his head, “No, but that doesn’t mean the idiots won’t be there.”

“We’ll just have to disillusion Neville if they are, then, and you’ll have to deal with appearing just as eager to practice as them.”

“Tch.” 

“Cheer up, Tsukki. Chibi-chan’s not so bad.”

Kei didn’t deign to respond. 

Hermione turned back to her friend, ignoring her cousin’s moodiness. “We’ll show you around tomorrow morning, Neville. One way or another.”

“Thanks, Hermione. But I won’t need to be disillusioned.” He pulled out a long stretch of fabric from his pocket. Hermione would recognize it anywhere.

“Harry’s cloak! Brilliant, Neville.”

Neville shook his head, “Wasn’t my thought, really. When Harry realized he couldn’t stop me from coming he shoved it at me and insisted I take it. Said we could use it more than him at the moment.”

“What’s the big deal about this cloak?” Kei spoke up, his curiosity overcoming his disgust at possibly running into his teammates again so soon.

Neville grinned at them, then swung the cloak over his head, completely disappearing.

Tetsurou whistled, “Alright, it’s a nice cloak.” Kenma blinked next to him, obviously curious but not daring to ask questions about the magical object. Hermione smiled softly at the younger boy. Maybe one day he wouldn't be as uncomfortable around magic.

“It's a wonderful cloak.” She grinned, reminiscing, “We’ve gotten out of so many situations because of that cloak.” 

“And gotten into so much trouble because of it.” Neville shook his head. 

Hermione shrugged. “That was mostly Harry, but yes.”

“You’ll tell me those stories?” Tetsurou was watching her with curiosity.

“Another time, sure.”

He nodded, “Well, while you are showing him the wonders of the volleyball gym, I can try to brew some potions to help us, along with making the peruvian darkness powder.”

Hermione grimaced. “I’m not looking forward to being apart, but that’s probably for the best. I have a bunch of healing potions, so you should focus on offensive things or specific antidotes for the potions Malfoy listed.”

“You’re not going to like this, either—we have practice tomorrow afternoon.”

Hermione bit her lip. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be apart that long… Neville, could you stay with Kei tomorrow, and I’ll disillusion myself and stay with Tetsurou?”

“Charlie and Luna would be with you, so I don’t think that would be a problem…Bill, what do you think?”

“It should be fine as long as everyone knows where you are, Hermione, and you stay disillusioned. We’ll have to be flexible to make sure that we don’t upset your bond.”

Tetsurou smirked at her, “You just want an excuse to spy on our practice.”

Kei sniffed in disdain. “Please. We hardly need to send a spy.”

“I’m sorry, but which team didn’t win a single match at the training camp?” The two glared at each other.

“Boys.” Hermione rolled her eyes, “Like I could even tell Karasuno anything about the Nekoma practices—they’d be too curious as to how I got that information when I’m supposed to be staying in Miyagi the whole time.”

“There is that.” Tetsurou shrugged. “Guess you’ll have to find another way to win, Tsukki.”

“The idiots will take care of that.”

“Chibi—”

“ _Boys_.” Hermione glared at them this time. 

Kenma spoke up, “We should be going home, Kuroo. It’s late and you at least need to tell your parents where you’ll be.” 

“Right.” Tetsurou ran his hand through his hair. “I guess I’ll side-apparate Charlie-san there and then come back for Kenma? Charlie-san needs to see my house to be able to get there easily.”

“That would probably be for the best.” Hermione winced. Speaking of Tetsurou’s family. “Ano…I do need to meet your parents at somepoint, too…”

Happiness flooded her. She smiled nervously at Tetsurou as he grinned at her. “They’ll be home tomorrow morning, so would that be fine?”

Hermione nodded, “Sure.” Though the prospect made her nervous.

He must have felt her nerves because he smiled softly at her, “You’re my soulmate. It will all be fine.” Hermione wasn’t convinced, but Tetsurou turned toward the door. “I should probably go find Charlie-san, then, but I’ll be back soon. Kenma, you coming?” The boy nodded and the two of them left the room. 

“So what’s this I hear about a date?” Hermione swallowed and turned to face the four remaining boys. Bill was grinning at her, as were Akiteru and Neville, while Kei just looked bored. 

“It’s just dinner, I think. Tetsurou didn’t specify, and probably somewhere in Tokyo since neither of us knows any restaurants in Miyagi…and it won’t even be private, since Neville and Charlie will apparently also be there.”

Neville winced, “Sorry about that, Hermione, but…”

“Yes, I know. It’s necessary.”

“We’ll try to give you some space, at least.”

“It would be appreciated, but do whatever you think is best, Neville. It’s more important that we survive.”

“Of course.” 

Kei stood up and stretched, “I’m going to call it a night. See you all tomorrow, I guess.” Akiteru seconded that, and the two brothers trudged up the stairs.

A feeling of emptiness sprung upon her and Hermione gasped, clutching her chest.

“Hermione?!” Neville reached out to hold her arm while Bill came around the table.

“You alright?” 

“Fine.” She took a deep breath to adjust to the feeling. “Tetsurou just apparated, is all.”

“It’s that bad?” 

“I’ll get used to it, eventually.” Hermione sighed, “It was just so sudden this time.”

Neville watched her for a few seconds, then nodded slowly. “If it gets too bad, let us know, alright?” She nodded. 

Bill stood up, “I should go let those outside know the new plan for tomorrow.” He patted her shoulder. “Try to get some rest, Hermione. We’re here for you.” 

“Thank you, Bill.” He smiled at her, then headed out the door. 

Neville stood up and looked around. “I have first shift in the house, but could you show me where the loo is, Hermione?” She nodded and led him down the hallway.

When Hermione arrived back in the family room she pulled out the mirror and called Harry. She felt Tetsurou’s presence briefly in the front yard, but it quickly flickered away. She winced again at the sudden emptiness. He must have just come back for Kenma.

Harry’s yawning face filled the screen. “Evening, Hermione.” 

“Morning, Harry. You didn’t tell me Neville was coming.”

Ron pushed Harry over so that he could be seen. “It was kind of a last-minute thing. He heard us talking to Luna at Hogwarts and demanded to come, too.”

“Well, I appreciate it, all the same.”

“So everyone got there safely then?”

“Yes.” She smiled at them, “I beat Charlie in a duel last night.”

Ron laughed, “Can’t wait to rub that in his face. He put up a good fight, at least?”

“Of course.” Hermione rolled her eyes, “Your brother’s a very nontraditional duelist, but unfortunately for him, so am I.” 

“That’s true.” Harry sighed, “We’ve had to be.”

“Has anything happened there?”

The emptiness abruptly left her, and she felt Tetsurou’s presence in the front yard. She closed her eyes in relief. 

Harry shook his head, “Everything’s quiet here.”

“Hogwarts is on schedule, at least.”

“That’s good to hear.” Hermione looked up as the front door opened and Tetsurou stepped inside. “I’ve got to go, Tetsurou just got back.”

“Back?” Ron squawked. “But it’s evening there!”

“It’s hardly like that, Ronald. He’s sleeping in the tent with Bill and the others. Long distances just don’t work well with our bond.”

“Oh." Ron visibly relaxed. "That’s alright, then.”

“I’m glad it meets your approval.” Miffed, she hung up on them. 

Tetsurou was watching her with an amused smirk. “I figured I should come in and say goodnight.”

“Thank you.” She reached around to hug him. Her mind drifting back to the fact that she would meet his parents tomorrow. “Your parents must hate me. How could they not? I’m putting you in so much danger….” Her arms tightened around him.

“They don’t hate you. Dad’s…taking it better than mom, honestly, but they don’t hate you. They’re just worried.”

“Right. Your life is being threatened, but they don’t hate me.”

“Mio…” He pushed her back so that he could look into her eyes. “It will be ok. You’re my soulmate. They can’t hate you for something you can’t control. They know that, rationally.”

Hermione’s eyes narrowed. “Rationally?”

“They’re worried, alright. Especially Mom. They’re my parents. Of course they’re worried.” All she could feel from him was concern and sincerity. “They’re glad that you and your friends are so serious about protecting me and Kenma, though. They really appreciate that.” He grinned, “though they were a bit confused by the mushrooms.”

Hermione giggled, “Honestly, so am I. Luna’s doing what she thinks best, though.”

He sighed and stepped back from her, “I really should call it a night. Try not to miss me too much, alright love?”

“Somehow I doubt that will be a problem.” 

“Oi! Here I am, sacrificing the comfort of my own bed so that I can sleep in a tent below your window…”

Hermione laughed and shoved him toward the door, “Your sacrifice is noted and appreciated, but that tent is hardly uncomfortable.”

“Slept in it before, have you?”

“You have no idea.” Only countless nights while on the run. 

“Then I suppose I can’t complain.” He stopped at the door, grinning at her. His eyes darkened for a moment and Hermione thought he might kiss her goodnight, but in the end all he did was give her another hug. “See you in the morning, Mio.”

“Goodnight Tetsu.” He gave her one last smirk, then walked toward the tent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! As promised, here's the chapter, though I'm sorry I didn't post it yesterday. Only four chapters left! Things are going to move fast. I'll post them Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and the last one will either be Friday or Saturday, depending on how much time I get to write this week beyond editing of the other chapters. Without spoiling too much, there will be violence in the upcoming chapters, so be advised about that.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't worry, our favorite owls will be sticking around ;)
> 
> Next chapter, Hermione will meet the parents! And many other things will happen :p


	19. August 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

That night she had dreamt of the tent. Of the countless hours listening to names on the radio, hoping not to recognize any of them. Of the locket. Of Ron leaving. But this time Tetsurou was there with her and Harry, making everything better. 

She wouldn’t wish that on anyone, but now it was happening, in a way. His life was in danger because of her. 

Hermione sighed, turning her spoon slowly in her cereal. Kei walked in and gave her a disturbed look. “Why do you look like someone just killed your dog?”

“I’ve never had a dog.”

“Right. You’re a cat person.” Kei rolled his eyes. “Stop avoiding the question or I’m going to go get your mind-reading cat from outside.”

“The bond doesn’t work that way. At least, not yet.” She sighed. “It’s nothing, really. I’m just worried about everyone being in danger, and mad at myself because it’s all my fault. I’m beginning to understand how Harry felt, which is ridiculous.”

“Oneesan…” Kei slumped into the chair across from her. “No matter what happens, we knew the risk when we told you we could stay. You didn’t hide that from us.” He poured himself a bowl of cereal.

“I know. But… just because I told you doesn’t mean that you realized it, that you understood…”

“Are you trying to insult my intelligence, Hermione-neesan?” Kei was looking at her with one eyebrow raised.

She sighed and shook her head.

“Good, because then I would have to doubt yours.” She rolled her eyes. “Mom knew what she was doing when she asked you to stay. I supported her then, and I still do. When times are tough, family should stick together and be honest with one another. I’ll support you, and you’ll protect me. I know you will.”

“That’s a lot of trust, Kei-kun.”

He shrugged, “You planning on running away from us?”

“No. Never.”

“Then we’re good.”

Hermione knew that Kei meant every word, but it was still difficult not to feel guilty. She sighed, then decided that a topic change was in order. “Since it’s hard for Tetsurou and I to be apart, I’m going to Tokyo with him this morning. You’ll have to show Neville the gym by yourself.”

“Tch.” Kei glared at her for a second, “Fine. But you owe me.”

“And what exactly will I owe you? It’s not like this will be a big deal.”

“I’m going to get roped into something with those idiots, I know it.”

“Oh, how horrible. You’ll have to play the sport that you voluntarily signed up to play.” Hermione picked up her bowl and went to go rinse it in the sink. “My heart bleeds for you, Kei-kun, it really does.”

“It should.”

Hermione rolled her eyes as she turned off the water, “Well, while you do that I’m going to meet Tetsurou’s parents, who have every right to hate me since I’m endangering their son’s life. Forgive me if I’m not sympathetic to your plight.”

“You’ll be fine. You’re a war veteran and a victim of prejudice. It’s a social faux pas to hate either of those.”

“That’s so reassuring.” She threw the dish towel at him. “If they’re anything like their son, they won’t exactly care about social faux pas.”

“There is that.” Kei sighed, “The longer you wait the worse it will get, though.”

Hermione stuck her tongue out at her cousin, “I’d rather live in denial of that fact, thank you.”

Kei flicked a piece of cereal at her, but thankfully it fell short. She shook her head and turned toward the door, “I’m going to the tent to make sure they didn’t kill Malfoy in his sleep.”

“Are you really that worried for him?”

Hermione shrugged, “More worried about the trouble it would cause, honestly.” Hermione slipped from the room as Kei laughed.

When she got to the tent flap she thought about knocking, but then decided against it. If anyone was changing she doubted they’d be in the common area. She opened the flap…and was greeted by a shirtless Tetsurou. There was a slight distortion around his chest, right where her scar was located. At least he was getting better at glamours. Her soulmate was sitting backwards on a chair, wearing his usual red shorts and the now ever-present dragon fang necklace alongside the galleon necklace Bill had given him.

“Miss me?”

“Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?” Not that the sight wasn’t…pleasant, which he definitely knew by his smirk, but it was hardly what she’d expected.

“Malfoy said he wanted to see the bond mark this morning. I figured why put on a shirt if I’m just going to have to take it off again.”

“And so no shirt.”

“It’s all for your viewing pleasure, love.”

“I’m flattered, really.” Hermione rolled her eyes.

“You should be.” 

“Where are the others?”

“In their rooms. You weren’t lying when you said this was a nice tent.” He paused, looking at her closely, “Your dreams…how much was real?”

“Pretty much everything except for you being there, to be honest.”

Tetsurou was silent for a few seconds, then his voice was quiet, “I wish that part had been true, too.”

“No!” Hermione closed her eyes in pain, “this is bad enough, Tetsu. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, much less you.”

A flap opened, and Hermione turned to see Malfoy there, glaring at the both of them. “There aren’t silencing charms, so we can hear you, you know.” He walked a few steps, then froze when he saw Tetsurou’s back. “Granger…when, exactly, were you going to tell me the ridiculous size of your mark?”

Hermione blinked, honestly bewildered. “I haven’t been able to research any of this, Malfoy. Is size important?”

“Of course you don’t know.” He sneered at her, “It’s another indication of how ridiculously tightly you two are bound. It’s no wonder you were in pain yesterday over the separation. I do _not_ suggest being separated further than you’ve already done, especially this early in the bond.”

“It’s a good thing we rearranged the schedule today then.” She sighed, then turned back to Tetsurou, “Now will you go put a shirt on?”

“I suppose.” Tetsurou stood up and stretched. Hermione’s eyes widened, and she looked away with a blush. He was ridiculous. “See you in a minute, love.” He winked at her and strode out of the common room. 

“I certainly wasn’t expecting someone like that to be your soulmate, Granger.”

“What do you mean by that, Malfoy?” She eyed him warily, waiting for the insult.

“He’s no Weasley, that’s for certain.” 

Hermione glared at him. “There’s nothing wrong with the Weasleys, or anything wrong with Tetsurou, Malfoy.”

“Sure, whatever you say.” Malfoy strode past her, “I’m off to make sure that your uncle gets to work, but have fun with the in-laws, Granger.” That…ferret. If he kept this up, she really would hit him again.

Tetsurou walked back out then and made eye contact with her for a brief second, then they both winced in pain. Tetsurou started laughing. “You actually hit him?”

“He deserved it.”

“You did good for someone your size, but if you ever want someone to teach you how to properly throw a punch, I’ll gladly volunteer.”

“I tend to curse first, now, actually.”

“Spoken like a true witch.” He smirked at her, but then Hermione noticed what he had changed into. 

“Do you own anything besides black t-shirts and red shorts?”

Tetsurou laughed, “Why bother? I’ve always felt like these were appropriate for all occasions.” She looked at him skeptically. “Of course, there’s also my jersey for tournaments and my school uniform.” 

“Those hardly count.”

“Well, Mio, I suppose you’ll just have to wait until tonight to see if I own anything nicer.”

The date. Right. She’d honestly forgotten about that with all her nervousness about meeting his parents. “Should I bring a change of clothes?”

“We can always come back here, no worries. Charlie-san said to just shout for him whenever we were ready, so…” Tetsurou took a deep breath, but Hermione elbowed him in the stomach before he could do anything.

“He did not mean that literally. Which room is he in?” Tetsurou pointed and she went over to it, knocking the wood next to the flap. 

“Be right there!” 

Hermione turned and gave Tetsurou a pointed look, but all he did was shrug. “How was I supposed to know that a knock would suffice when the man specifically said to shout?”

She rolled her eyes as Charlie stepped out from behind the flap, then passed her four strips of dragonhide. “I included two more for Kuroo-san’s parents. Figured you could work on the portkeys while he’s doing potions.”

“Thanks, Charlie. Will do.”

“Ready? We’re all keyed into the tent’s wards, so we can just apparate from here.”

Tetsurou put his arm around her shoulders, “Hold on tight, love. I promise not to drop you. At least, not on purpose.”

“You splinch me and I will never let you live it down.”

“That’s hardly fair, Hermione. As far as I know, of the three of us, you’re the only one who has splinched someone.”

She glared at Charlie while Tetsurou laughed. “There were extenuating circumstances.”

“Sure there were.” Tetsurou winked at her. “Let’s just hope I’m a bit better at it than you are, why don’t we?”

Hermione quickly put her arms around Tetsurou’s waist as she felt the familiar tug at her navel begin, then stumbled only slightly when they landed behind a house. Charlie landed beside them a second later. A cat hissed at them and then scurried over the fence.

“You have a cat?”

“Nah, that’s Kenma’s. Likes to come over into our yard a lot, though. We have the better shade.”

Charlie looked around for a second, then turned back to them. “It looks like the Akaashis already put up some wards. I’m going to go get Bill and come back so that he knows the apparition point and can work more on the wards at some point today. I’ll be back a little before one o’clock to accompany Kuroo-san and Kenma-san to practice.” The two of them nodded and Charlie disappeared under a strong disillusionment charm.

“Come on inside. I know you’re nervous, but I promise my parents won’t bite.”

Hermione nodded slowly, taking his hand and following him toward the door. “Well, as long as you promise.”

He grinned at her, then opened the back door, calling out “Tadaima!”

Hermione swallowed. She had won a war, for Merlin’s sake. She could face this.

A woman with short black hair looked up from the notepad she was reading in the living room. Files and various packets of paper were scattered all around her. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Hermione. “I see you have a guest. I’ll go get your father so you can introduce us both properly.” Hermione almost winced at the carefully neutral tone of the woman’s voice. At least it wasn’t openly hostile.

“Arigatou, okaa-san.”

The woman eyed them for a few seconds longer, then disappeared around the corner. 

Tetsurou squeezed her hand, then led her over to stand by the couch. Hermione fidgeted as they waited, but Tetsurou’s mother soon appeared with her husband.

“Okaa-san, Otou-san, this is Hermione Granger-san, my soulmate. Hermione, these are my parents.” 

Hermione gave an awkward bow, “Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.”

His father gave a small bow in return, but Tetsurou’s mother just gave a stiff nod. Hermione winced at the slight. 

His father smiled at her, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “We appreciate the precautions you are taking to ensure our son’s safety.”

His mother sniffed, “We do not appreciate their necessity.”

“Okaa-san—” 

“It’s fine, Tetsurou.” Hermione cut him off, determined to let his parents vent. “It _is_ my fault.”

Tetsurou glared at her, “It is not your fault that that insane woman has followed you to Japan.”

Hermione shrugged, looking down at the floor uneasily, “But you wouldn’t be in danger without me.”

“I also wouldn’t have my soulmate. I quite like being with you, Hermione.” He sighed, then turned to his parents who had been silently watching the exchange. “Perhaps we could have lunch together? I plan to spend the morning brewing, and Hermione will be helping me.”

“That would be acceptable.” His mother nodded tightly.

Tetsurou tugged at her hand and Hermione quickly followed him to escape down a hallway. They stopped in front of a door with a volleyball poster on it. “Hermione…”

“Don’t, Tetsurou. Mothers worry. I understand. Let’s just…forget about it for now?”

He nodded warily, “Alright, but you’ll just have to face her again at lunch.”

She shrugged, “I can understand why your mom hates me, Tetsurou, though I appreciate that you father is at least trying to be friendly. It’s ok. Let’s focus on doing things that will help protect you, alright?” 

He analyzed her for a few seconds, then sighed and opened the door. “Well, welcome to my lair. It’s not much, but…” he shrugged, “it’s mine.”

She followed him inside and immediately started giggling. One side of the room was muggle friendly—his bed, weights, and an exercise mat laid out on the floor. The other side, however…one whole wall was covered with some sort of potions station. Three different cauldrons were set up, along with some scales and copious shelves and cabinets filled with ingredients. Next to that was a bookshelf that was practically falling apart from all the science and potions texts that were shoved into it haphazardly and spilling onto the floor. 

“I suppose you can’t invite many friends over?”

“Just Kenma. And occasionally Bokuto or Akaashi, but that’s not too common since they don’t live that close by.” 

_Kenma was sitting on the bed, playing a videogame. There was a large bruise on his knee, though it didn’t seem to be bothering him. Tetsurou poured the next ingredients into the cauldron. The bruise paste would be finished soon, either way._

Hermione smiled softly at the memory, “You would do anything for Kenma-san, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course.” Tetsurou sighed rubbing the back of his head, “I do wish these memories weren’t giving you a stockpile of blackmail, though.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “Don’t make me want to use it, then, if these memories are so horrible.” As if being nice to one’s friend was something worthy of blackmail. She walked over to the potions shelf, perusing the ingredients that were surprisingly well organized. Some of them were unfamiliar to her. “Karasu-tengu feathers?” She read the label on a beaker stuffed with small black feathers. 

“Yeah, there are some ingredients that are more commonly used in Eastern potions because it’s easier for us to get them. Karasu-tengu feathers would be one of those.”

“What are they for?”

“Eh, typically potions that alter appearances, though sometimes they can be used with healing potions or potions that act like minor jinxes.” So somewhat of an all-use ingredient. Tetsurou was already starting to pull other ingredients down that he would need for his first potion. 

He motioned toward the bed, “I don’t have a chair, but feel free to work on the portkey stuff there—I’ll probably be using all three of the cauldrons once I get started.”

Hermione nodded and went over to sit on the bed. It felt awkward, more awkward that it ever had when she sat on Ron or Harry’s bed, but she supposed that was because the boys always shared a room, so it felt less…personal. Or it could just be because Tetsurou was her soulmate. 

“Relax, Mio.” Tetsurou was leaning on the potion’s counter watching her. “I know my mom has you on edge, but in here its just two people working on potions.” He paused, smirking, “Unless you want to use that bed for something else?” 

“Tetsurou!”

“I thought you might want to take a nap.” He held up his hands in a defensive gesture but was grinning mischievously. 

“Right.” She rolled her eyes, “Just start your potions, Tetsu. No more suggestive comments.”

“Hai, hai.” He gave her one last grin, then went to the shelf to grab a book, she assumed for reference with a potion.

At that, Hermione turned to her own work, pulling out her wand and the dragonhide that Charlie had given her. There were multiple steps with each bracelet, starting with the sewing charms Mrs. Weasley had taught her to form four automatically resizing bracelets. Then she had to picture the Japanese transportation ministry and cast the portkey spell. Finally, she layered each bracelet with every protective charm that she could. All in all, it took about ten minutes per bracelet, and she was beginning to feel drained when she cast the last ward. 

She holstered her wand with a sigh.

“Pepperups are in the bottom shelf of the bottom right cabinet if you need one.” Tetsurou called out from over his shoulder, focused on stirring the cauldron in front of him. The other two cauldrons appeared to be simmering, waiting for their next stage. 

“I think I’ll be alright, but thanks.” 

“Suit yourself.” He shrugged. “Could you come prepare the slugs for me?”

Hermione wrinkled her nose. Those were disgusting, but it had to be done. She set aside the bracelets and walked over to the counter, eyeing the bucket of slugs with distaste. Tetsurou had a book set in front of him with instructions, so Hermione took a clean dish and sighed before beginning to squeeze the juice from it.

“Aw, so you are willing to juice slugs for me, thanks, love.” Tetsurou threw a smirk at her.

“Did you ask me to do the most disgusting thing on purpose?”

“Maybe.”

“If you weren’t brewing a delicate potion right now I would kick you.”

“Then I guess it’s lucky for me that I am brewing a delicate potion.” Another smirk, then he glanced at the cauldron closest to her. “That one looks like it’s almost ready for the next step. Once you finish the slugs, could you sprinkle in those nettles and give it five slow counterclockwise turns?” 

“Sure.” Thankfully he only needed three slugs juiced, so Hermione quickly finished that task, then cleaned her hands off with a scourgify. Tossing in the nettles and stirring were both easy steps, but Tetsurou soon had another task for her. After that they fell into a rhythm of brewing, each step so precise that it required their full focus. 

Hermione had never worked with someone like this. In Snape’s class she could never trust Ron or Harry, or Merlin forbid one of the Slytherin’s they’d been occasionally forced to partner with. Tetsurou, though… he obviously knew what he was doing. And he trusted her to do the tasks properly, as well. It was refreshing, and…relaxing. For once, she could just focus on the task at hand and not have to worry about her surroundings or the future. 

All too soon, however, the moment was ruined by Tetsurou’s father knocking on the door and calling out to them that lunch was ready.

“Be right there! Just let me put this under stasis.” Tetsurou pulled out his wand, then, muttering the stasis spell for the last potion. “That’ll keep it for the time being.” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I’d hoped to finish more, but we don’t have a lot of the ingredients, since many are restricted items. This will have to do.”

“We finished a few, Tetsurou.”

“Yeah, three antidotes, some darkness powder, and two of the more offensive potions I had in mind, but…” he shrugged. “It will have to do. You ready for lunch?”

“Hardly.” Hermione went to the bed to collect three of the portkeys, “It needs to be done, though.”

The food was on the table by the time they got there, and both Tetsurou’s parents were already seated. They hurried to do the same. 

“Was your morning productive, Tetsurou?”

“Productive enough. Hermione finished the portkeys and then we finished five potions, though I’d hoped to do a bit more.”

“Portkeys?” Tetusurou’s mother turned to her in alarm. “But that’s…” she trailed off, not quite wanting to utter the word.

“Illegal.” Hermione paused to pull the three bracelets out of her bag and set them on the table. “Yes, I know.” She specifically made eye contact with the woman, “But I will do anything to keep Tetsurou safe, and you, too.” She shrugged, “They’re for emergencies only. It won’t matter if you never use them, but if you need to, chances are that we’ll be forgiven due to the extreme circumstances. Or we’ll be slapped with a fine that Harry would be happy to pay for me.” He was always trying to get rid of money, anyway. “They’re made from dragonhide and reinforced with protective wards. The key word is ‘portus’ and they’ll take you to the transportation department of the Japanese ministry.” She shrugged, “It’s the only room I’ve been in, and it didn’t have anti-portkey wards since it people need to be able to access that department through portkey.”

Tetsurou’s mother picked up the bracelet and looked at it hesitatingly. “I assume it will automatically resize?”

“Correct. Tetsurou and Kenma-san will also be able to push them up on their forearms during matches and they will resize and stay in place. That way the bracelets won’t get in the way of the ball.”

Tetsurou grinned at her, “Thanks, that’s impressive.” He picked it up and automatically slipped it onto his wrist. His father did the same, albeit more slowly.

“Kei-kun pointed out the problem after his first practice and it’s not that hard to accomplish once the resizing spellwork is already in place.” 

“You really think you can do this? Protect my son from that woman and her accomplices?”

Hermione nodded firmly. She wouldn’t let herself think about the alternative. “I stood by Harry Potter’s side and protected him throughout the war. In addition, I’ve called in some of the best help that magical Britain has to offer. I will keep him alive. If we can’t protect him, no one can.”

“Can we please stop talking about me like I’m some damsel in distress?”

His mother rolled her eyes, “I know you have your pride, darling, but you’re terrible with spells. And I doubt your accidental magic will save you this time.”

“Thank you so much for bringing that up, okaa-san.”

“Well I assume you’ve told her?”

“Yes,” Tetsurou responded, grudgingly.

“There’s no need to whine about it then. Unless you want us to think that you’re a whiny damsel?”

Tetsurou’s eyebrow twitched. “Hardly.”

“The ramen is lovely, dear.” Hermione snorted as Tetsurou’s father inserted himself into the conversation and attempted to change the subject. 

His wife glared at him, clearly aware of his intent, and answered with a clipped tone, “Thank you.”

There was a strained silence. Hermione tried to find a neutral topic, “Tetsurou said—” his mother’s eyebrow twitched at her use of her son’s given name. Hermione wanted to groan, but forged on, “that you work with creatures, sir, and that your specialty is charms, ma’am, but he’s not mentioned what your professions are.”

Tetsurou’s father spoke up first, “I work with the magical division of a wildlife rehabilitation program. People report magical creature sightings in areas where there’s either a high muggle population or are dangerous for the animal in some way, and we tag and relocate the animal.”

“That sounds like it would keep you on your toes.”

He laughed, “It certainly does. Tetsurou said you have a friend that works on the Romanian dragon preserve. I’d love to meet him if there’s a chance. We sent a dragon there a little over ten years ago, and it’d be good to know how she’s doing.”

“I’m sure Charlie would love to talk to you. He’ll never pass up a chance to talk about dragons.”

“Perhaps when the man shouldn’t be guarding our son.”

Hermione sent Tetsurou’s mother a disgruntled look. “Of course.” 

There was another strained silence. Tetsurou cleared his throat. “Okaa-san, you never answered her question.”

The woman regarded her closely, but finally answered. “I’m an attorney.”

“Oh?” Hermione mentally sighed. She really should have seen that coming. “What kind of law do you practice?”

“Business.” Hermione couldn’t think of another follow up question to that. Tetsurou sighed next to her. 

The rest of the lunch passed in strained silence. 

Hermione tried to remember if she’d ever had a more awkward meal. Maybe the Slug Club? She was pretty sure this surpassed it, though. 

Needless to say, when Tetsurou stood up to excuse himself, Hermione was quick to join him. She practically fled back to his room when he picked up her dishes for her. 

“Gomen. That didn’t go so well.” Tetsurou shut the door behind him and leaned against it. 

“It was…awkward, but fine. At least I know why they dislike me.” She looked at the potion and tried to change the topic. “Do we have time to finish the last potion before we go, or do you have to leave for practice now?”

He studied her for a second then looked at the clock and sighed. “We really should head out. We have five minutes or so, but that won’t be enough time to finish it.” He pulled out some small vials and the glass bottles filled with the potions they’d just made, along with a few other basic healing potions. “Help me fill some vials with these? We should probably both keep vials for the basic healing potions.” 

“I already have some of the generic ones in my bag, but the new antidotes would be helpful.”

Once they had finished filling the vials, Tetsurou put the potions back in his cabinet. He unzipped a hidden compartment in his gym bag, then slipped his vials in while Hermione did the same with her purse. 

When they went outside, Kenma was laying down on the lawn, poking a mushroom. Hermione giggled at the odd picture. “What, exactly, are you doing Kenma-san?”

“The girl said that if I ate them I would move faster.” He fiddled with his hair. “Is that true Granger-san?”

“Who knows?” Hermione shrugged. “Since Bokuto-san ate them and didn’t get sick I assume they are at least digestible.” 

Kenma stared at the mushrooms, then shrugged and stood up. “Lovegood-san said she and Charlie would be watching us, but that we wouldn’t see them.”

Hermione nodded, then stepped into an out of sight corner. “I’ll disillusion myself, then, so that no one from the team will see me.” She pulled out her wand and cast the spell, shuddering at the tingle that ran over her skin.

As they walked, Hermione couldn’t help but be wary of the several alleyways they passed, along with the deserted park. There were too many places where someone could hide and throw a spell at them. But she couldn’t ask everyone to just hide in the defensive fort that the Tsukishima’s home was quickly becoming. They all had lives to live. 

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the gym, then went over to a corner to observe where she wouldn’t be in danger from stray volleyballs. It was interesting to see the differences between the teams’ practices—Nekoma focused much more on receiving drills, Karasuno on different attacking variations—yet she quickly became bored. She enjoyed watching Tetsurou play the sport that he loved, but she still didn’t know enough to appreciate any of the maneuvers.

When the coach finally declared that everyone should clean up and shower, Hermione sighed in relief and stretched her stiff muscles. She quietly waited for them outside the changing room, then fell into step behind the two friends, who thankfully had showered quickly and were the first two to leave.

_Is she really behind us? She’s too good at that spell, I only know where she is because of the bond._

Hermione smiled to herself in satisfaction. Tetsurou’s honest appreciation of her skills was always nice to hear. 

They had seen few people on the path when they had walked to the school, but now there was no one. Tetsurou and Kenma chatted idly in Japanese, not wanting to alert any possible eavesdropping wizard of her presence, so Hermione simply stayed back and watched their surroundings. Her eyes narrowed when they reached the park. There had been a shimmer in the air. Charlie or Luna? Or… 

A beam of light raced toward them and Hermione threw up a shield in front of the two volleyball players. She was relieved to see that there was another shield, as well. Luna appeared next to her, but Charlie had apparently decided to stay hidden. Kenma whispered portus, but nothing happened. Portkey wards. 

Hermione’s coin around her neck began to warm up. Charlie must have activated it, because the four of them hadn’t moved, keeping still as they watched the playground. She tried to apparate, but was blocked, not that she was surprised. She saw Tetsurou reach into his gym bag. The offensive potions. Those would help, but only if she could give him a chance. Throwing a potion was, after all, a very obvious motion.

Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange appeared in the middle of the playground, but there was no Bellatrix. 

“Thought it was too good to be true, those two walking around unprotected. Didn’t think we’d find you, though, Granger. Couldn’t leave lover boy alone?”

Hermione ignored Rabastan. Was Bellatrix hiding like Charlie? Either way, they needed to get at least Kenma out of there, and fast. Tetsurou could shield if worse came to worse, but Kenma was defenseless. Brooms could only carry one additional passenger, so that meant…

“Luna, take Kenma and go. Tetsurou, stay with us.” She couldn’t risk him leaving and Luna having to duel Bellatrix while having to defend two others. 

Luna pulled her broom out of her pocket and unshrunk it. “Of course.” She mounted, then held out her hand to Kenma, who hesitantly sat on behind her.

“I’m afraid we can’t let you do that, blood traitor.”

They snapped out spells, but Hermione’s shield held steady. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to.” 

Luna took off, and Hermione had to enlargen her shield to cover for them. Her shield would be spread too thin, soon.

“Tetsurou, conjure ice to block anything that goes through my shield. Can you do that?” 

“You got it, love.” 

Hermione smiled at his faked confidence. She could feel the nervousness and fear running through his veins, but also the sheer determination. She would trust in that. Determination, after all, had saved Harry, Ron, and her many times.

Spells appeared from three directions, all targeting the brothers and forcing them to go on the defensive. Hermione’s eyes narrowed. If more numbers had arrived, they would have revealed themselves in order to force the opponents to be at a disadvantage. Had Charlie managed to set a timed release? George had been working on something like that during the war….

“Tetsurou, shield.” She dropped her own, Luna was far enough away now. Charlie’s spells were beginning to thin, so Hermione sent a few stunners and minor spells their way—anything to keep them on the defensive. Tetsurou’s shield snapped up, but she could tell it was weak.

She had to make this quick. 

But how?

“Avis.” Fourty birds appeared in the air around her. She twirled her wand, directing it toward the brothers, “Oppugno.” The birds flew straight, aiming for the Lestranges and buying her time to think.

She disillusioned herself and Tetsurou while the brothers weren’t looking, hissing at him to drop the shield. Thankfully, he did. 

When the brothers finally killed the last of the birds, they looked around, confused. 

“Very nice distraction, Granger. Now come out and face us.”

“We know you haven’t left, mudblood. The wards would have told us.”

Hermione inched toward them, careful to stay on the asphalt so that they wouldn’t see her footprint in the grass. When she was only a foot away, she hissed, “Confringo.” Rodolphus went flying, but Rabastan, who was slightly further away, managed to get a shield up in time, then quickly retaliated in the direction her spell came from.

Her position given away, Hermione dropped the disillusionment and began to dodge as she freely attacked Rabastan in turn. 

A sectumsempra flew by her head as she rolled underneath it and sent a wave of flames at her attacker, followed by some conjured icicles. 

“You want to play with fire, do you mudblood?” Rabastan sneered at her, then voiced the incantation for fiendfyre. 

Hermione’s blood ran cold as flames poured forth from his wand, but Charlie immediately appeared a few feet away, wand held straight at the fire. He repeated the incantation, his own flames leaping forth and merging with Lestrange’s. Hermione quickly backed away as the flames frothed in waves. 

“Crucio.” Hermione whirled around to see Rodolphus standing, leaning heavily on one leg, with his wand pointed straight at her. She’d lost track of him.

She didn’t have time to dodge.

Pain. It raced underneath her skin, setting her nerves on fire. She clenched her jaw, trying not to scream, but then she heard it. 

Tetsurou’s scream. She would gladly have gone her whole life without hearing that.

Her own ripped from her throat—of pain, of anger. She couldn’t think. Couldn’t think beyond her pain. His pain. They both welled up inside her.

Then it was gone. 

She lay there, gasping for breath. Her hand clenched around her wand. She began to push herself up, nerves shaking. The fire flashed around her. She could see Charlie sweating.

“I forgot what fun it was, torturing a bonded pair. Your pain just keeps building and building, feeding into each other. We barely have to do anything.” 

He kicked Tetsurou and Hermione fell over, gasping. “Hurt one, hurt the other.” He gave them a twisted grin. “Always so fascinating to watch. Bellatrix will be sad to have missed the beginning of it.” Bellatrix wasn’t here. Not that the witch would have been able to keep from showing herself in this situation. She’d be too giddy.

Hermione pushed herself up again. Focus. She needed to focus. Rodolphus was a threat, but the fiendfyre was worse. She had to do something to give Charlie the advantage.

She winced as Rodolphus grabbed Tetsurou’s shirt and sneered in his face. “Marked by a mudblood like that. You might as well be one.” 

Tetsurou kicked Rodolphus’ weak leg, where Hermione’s spell had caught him, and the man fell backwards in pain, dropping Tetsurou in a heap. Hermione winced, but managed to stay standing. She felt a burst of satisfaction from Tetsurou.

“Sectumsempra.” She held her wand steady, and the spell struck true, cutting straight across Rabastan’s torso.

He fell in a heap, blood pooling around him, it only took seconds for the fire to devour him. 

Charlie had no opponent but the fire now. 

“Crucio!” Rodolphus.

Hermione’s scream cut through the air as the spell hit her a second time, Tetsurou’s soon joining her. She fell to the ground in a heap, back arching from the pain. Trying to escape it somehow but failing. It filled her mind, she could feel it in every cell of hers, of Tetsurou’s. Time stretched on. She didn’t know how long she lay there, writhing. Screaming. 

It stopped. Hermione lay there gasping, trying to breathe. Trying to think past the residual pain. 

Catalogue her injuries. Her throat was raw. Her knuckles and knees were bloody from scraping against the concrete. Every cell ached. She tried to stand but could barely move.

Bill’s voice. Bill’s voice saying her name. Casting a spell. 

They’d broken the wards. 

Help.

She didn’t have to fight. 

Hermione surrendered herself to the pain, and darkness crept across her vision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the chapter! It was really difficult to write Kuroo's parents.... I hope they are realistic. 
> 
> I won't be posting tomorrow, as I have a very busy day and won't have any time to edit :/ I'll post chapters Tuesday and Wednesday, though, and I think I'm going to split the final chapter into two different days, so those will be posted Friday and Saturday (Thursday is another busy day).


	20. August 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

There was a voice. Bill’s voice. A low murmur in the background. 

Hermione opened her eyes, then squinted at the brightness.

“Neesan!” Neesan? 

“Kei-kun.” He was at her side, holding her hand. She was in the Tsukishimas living room, though someone had enlarged it. And she was laying on a bed. What used to be the couch?

A tremor raced through her body and she gasped at the pain. There was another gasp next to her.

Tetsurou. She could feel him, a few feet away. His pain echoing hers. 

“Hermione.” Neville. “Hermione, how are you doing?” His voice sounded scared. Why was he afraid?

Hermione tried to push herself up, but there were hands at her shoulders, holding her down. She clutched her head. Why did her head hurt so much? “I’m terrible, to be honest.”

A small, nervous chuckle. “Charlie said you were under the crucio for a long time. We were worried…”

That they’d been too late. Hermione swallowed hard. “My head hurts something awful, but I can think straight. I know who you all are. Kei-kun. Neville. Bill.” Her eyes searched a bit further back, behind them where people were coming into the room, no doubt having been alerted by a monitoring spell or something that she was awake. “Luna. Akiteru-kun. Kenma-san. Sarah-san and Riku-san. Akaashi-san and Bokuto-san.” Though how those two had known to come she’d love to know. She faltered on the last name, then swallowed and continued softly, “Kuroo-san.” Tetsurou’s mother was here. Of course she would be. She frowned, “Where’s Charlie? Is he ok?”

“He’s fine, Hermione. He fought the fiendfyre and won.” Bill sighed and shook his head, “He completely exhausted his magic, though. Claims he would have lost without you. Thank you.”

“I hardly need to be thanked, Bill. We all would have died had Charlie not fought it. We saved each other, that’s all.”

“Viktor got here late last night. He and Malfoy are on watch right now.”

Hermione tried to nod but winced and rubbed her head instead.

“What’s wrong? Your head?” 

“It hurts.” Another tremor seized her arm and Hermione clenched her teeth to hold in a gasp. She steadied herself once it ended. “Have I already taken the post-cruciatus potions?”

Bill nodded, “We spelled them into your system as soon as we got there, then have kept doing so every few hours, as per Pomfrey’s instructions.” At Hermione’s puzzled look he elaborated, “Harry gave her the mirror.”

“Ah.” Hermione’s head snapped towards Tetsurou, despite the pain. “Tetsu.” He was waking up. Tetsurou groaned, and his mother was immediately at his side. 

“Tetsurou, son, can you hear me? We need you to wake up.”

Another groan, but he opened his eyes. “I feel like I’ve been run over by a herd of hippogriffs.”

Hermione snorted. “That’s one way to put it.” He tried to sit up and Hermione’s eyes widened at the pain before his mother pushed him back down. 

“You broke a rib, Tetsurou, and were under the cruciatus for over five minutes. Those won’t heal easily, even with magic. You’re going to feel very tender and have tremors for the next few days.”

“Well, fuck.” He groaned. Hermione laughed softly as he rubbed his head. She was relieved to see that someone had applied a glamour to Tetsurou’s arm and her own. Bill, maybe? Or Bokuto. Hopefully they had done so before Kuroo-san had seen it. Thanks to Malfoy everyone else already had. 

“Hey, hey, hey!” Bokuto bounced toward Tetsurou. “You’re finally awake, bro!”

“Glad to be awake, bro.” Tetsurou gave his friend a tired smile that quickly turned into a wince as Bokuto pounded his shoulder. 

“Bokuto!” Akaashi grabbed his arm. “Think a bit, first.”

“Gomen!” Bokuto slipped over to the corner. “I’m the worst friend.”

“You damn owl, you’re not the worst and you know it.” Tetsurou rolled his shoulder, trying to work out the pain, but stopped when he saw Hermione wince. He sighed, “Is the other guy at least worse off?”

“Rabastan is dead, I saw the fiendfyre devour him.” Hermione turned to look at Bill, “What about Rodolphus?”

“He dropped the apparition wards and left when he saw Neville, Akaashi-san, and me appear.” Bill shook his head, “I’m sorry we didn’t catch him.”

“Is that one the crucio bastard?”

“Yes.” Hermione nodded.

“He’s probably dead, then.” Tetsurou’s voice sounded resigned. 

They all turned to stare at Tetsurou. He felt proud, yet guilty and ashamed. Hermione was confused. What had he done? What had she missed?

“In between the crucios, he picked me up. I kicked him in the leg, but in the scuffle as he dropped me, I managed to douse him with ignis mors.”

Ignis mors. 

The potion they had brewed that morning. 

Tetsurou had killed him. He'd killed Rodolphus.

She remembered the flash of satisfaction she’d felt right as Tetsurou had fallen to the ground, escaping Rodolphus’ grasp. 

“Brilliant. And he wouldn’t have noticed the symptoms because he was already hot from the fiendfyre.”

“Can someone explain please?” Neville was looking from between Hermione and the other wizards, lost.

Bill spoke up. “It’s a deadly poison, but all it does for the first five minutes or so is make you feel warm. However, the warmer of the area you are in, the faster it is absorbed by your skin. To treat it, you have to cool the affected area within the first few minutes. Even an aguamenti would do, really. Once it is completely absorbed, though…the person burns from the inside out in a matter of seconds.”

They stared at Tetsurou in horror. Kenma clutched his friend’s hand. “You…brewed that?”

“Of course he did.” Luna smiled serenely at the boy. “The jabberknolls were attacking what he loved.” Kenma swallowed, then nodded slowly. 

“You were defending us, Tetsu. He was going to torture us into insanity and kill us, all for fun. If anyone deserved that potion, it was him.” She could still feel his internal conflict, but he nodded in agreement with what she said.

“I know… I just need some time to wrap my mind around it all, I think.” Hermione could understand that. She’d had years to adjust to the reality of war as it crept up on her. Tetsurou had had only a few days.

“Jabberknolls?” Akaashi brows were furrowed as he drew their attention back to Luna’s statement.

Hermione’s eyes narrowed. Luna had said they were coming. “You said that I couldn’t protect people from the jabberknolls, Luna, but that they would be weaker afterwards.”

“Yes. And they are. Now there is only one, though she is especially loud.”

“So Rodolphus is dead? He didn’t counter the potion in time?”

Luna frowned, “There is only one jabberknoll. I don’t know if that means Rodolphus is alive or dead, just that he will not jabber.”

Hermione sighed, but took that at least to mean that the man wouldn’t attack them again or wouldn’t be a problem if he did. “What about the muggles? Why wasn’t anyone in the area? Did anyone see the fight?”

Her aunt stood, “While they update you, Hermione-chan, I’m going to go make some food for you two. You must be starving.” Her uncle followed her out of the room, Hermione assumed to help her.

Hermione nodded her thanks, her attention focused on Bill as he began to answer her question.

“Everyone non-magical was inside their home and shortly visited by the Japanese obliviators. The news reported that there was a fire from an unknown cause at the park, and that it would be under repair for a while.” He sighed, “As for why no one was wandering around…the Lestrange brothers knew where you would be. They must have been setting up wards the entire time you were in the gym. They covered the whole path from the gym to his house. Wards that large don’t take visible shape when they’re formed, so as long as they stayed out of sight from Charlie and Luna we wouldn’t have noticed, and those two stayed right by the gym the whole time. One of the wards was a muggle repelling one that forced all non-magicals to remain in their buildings. We don’t know why it didn’t affect Kenma-san.”

Kenma frowned. “The others wanted to keep practicing after we finished, which is unusual, but I thought they were just enthusiastic after camp. I did think about staying with them, but I wanted to be with Kuroo.”

Bill sighed, “so when Kuroo ignored that part of the ward, you did too.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Because the area was so large, we couldn’t find a place in Tokyo where we could apparate to come help you. I had their phone numbers, though,” he gestured vaguely at Bokuto and Akaashi, “So I called Akaashi on the hope that he could bring us closer. Thankfully he could. Something about the transport center?”

“Even though I’ve never been to Miyagi, I could apparate to the transportation center and they could send me close to Tsukki’s school, since I knew that name. Bill just had to meet me at the closest subway station.”

“We apparated to Tokyo, then, and it didn’t take us too long to break the wards once we found their edge.”

Akaashi snorted. “You are being modest, Weasley-san. That was all you.” He turned to Hermione, “You are right that your friend is very skilled in breaking wards. It would be interesting to test him against some of my family’s.”

Hermione laughed as Bill began to turn the trademark Weasley-red from embarrassment. “Thank you, Bill.”

“We were worried we’d taken too long to find the barrier and that we’d been too late…” His voice trailed off. “I’m glad we got there in time. If you have no more questions, though, I really should let Harry and Ron know you’re awake and seem fine. Well, given the circumstances.”

“Please do.” Another tremor raced down her arm and she winced. 

Luna stood up as Bill left. “Come, Neville. Viktor will want to see Hermione. We should take guard duty for a while.” 

Neville sighed, but let Luna drag him from the room. “It’s good to see you awake and doing better, Hermione, Kuroo-san.” 

They disappeared out the door before Hermione could respond. 

“Neesan.” Hermione turned to Kei, who was still sitting beside her, watching her carefully. “How much stronger is this Bellatrix woman?” 

“Her brother-in-law and husband were in Voldemort’s inner circle, but she was closer to Voldemort and far more feared. She killed her own sister and cousin for not joining Voldemort, and they were both skilled duelists, though a bit rusty.” Hermione sighed. “There are few people that I know could stand up to her in a duel, but I hope that I am one of them.”

Malfoy wandered in halfway through her response and added to it, “My aunt has the advantage of not caring about those around her, as well as years more experience. Granger will have to take her by surprise in order to stand a chance.” 

_I knew Hermione was terrified of her, but she’s that good?_ Hermione wanted to hug Tetsurou, to somehow take away the fear she could feel radiating from him. 

Viktor entered the room next, and Hermione felt Tetsurou tense at his presence. She sighed. At least the jealousy and wariness had temporarily pushed the fear to the back of his mind. 

Before she could address Tetsurou’s emotions, though, she wanted to get Malfoy out of the room. “Why did you come inside Malfoy? I know it wasn’t to wish me well.”

“Charlie Weasley didn’t catch the full battle since he was fighting the fiendfyre. I came to see if either of you had more information to add that would be helpful for the future.”

Tetsurou snorted. “yeah, I doused Rodolphus with ignis mors about three minutes before he apparated. Because of the fiendfyre, he never noticed.”

Malfoy whistled, “Good to know that you’re just as vicious as your soulmate.”

“I’m not vicious.” Hermione glared at Malfoy. 

“Please. You didn’t survive the war or become the most wanted muggleborn by being nice. Everyone at the final battle hurt and killed everyone else. It was either that or die.”

Hermione blinked. “You said muggleborn.”

“Times are changing.” He shrugged, “I wouldn’t be a Slytherin if I didn’t adapt to survive.”

“Hermy-own is nice.” Viktor was glaring at Malfoy. 

“Of course. The house-elves adore her.” Malfoy sneered. “Sorry if I’m not a member of the Granger appreciation society. I just came inside to see if there was more news. Now that I’ve been given that, I’ll make everyone happy and go back outside.” He slipped through the crowded room and out the door, presumably either to take the watch back up or to head to the tent.

Hermione decided to ignore the mess of contradictions that was post-war Malfoy and turned to gave Viktor a tired smile. “It’s good to see you again, Viktor, though I wish it could have been under better circumstances.” 

“It is always good to see you, Hermy-own.” He paused, then looked over to where Tetsurou was glaring at him. “And good to meet your soulmate. Kuroo-san, I assure you there is nothing between Hermy-own and me. I liked her at one point because she is a remarkable woman, but she was not interested, and I have moved on.”

_I know she struggles when it comes to romance, but was she really that oblivious? Potter-san made it sound like this guy’s affections were obvious._

Hermione wanted to respond to Tetsurou’s thoughts but decided to leave that for another time. At least Tetsurou had stopped glaring. “I suppose I can’t blame you for having good taste.” She rolled her eyes at his magnanimous tone. It was a start.

“I thank you.” Tetsurou appeared slightly baffled by Viktor’s sincere response. Hermione smiled at her soulmate. “I will leave for the moment, Hermy-own. I do not wish to cause strain.”

“You don’t have to—”

“Please, Hermy-own. You are too nice. Your bond is new, and your soulmate is uncomfortable. I will be outside. I am merely glad to be able to help.”

Hermione watched him go with a sigh. She was about to scold Tetsurou, but another tremor raced through her body, and Hermione winced. “When should we have our next dose of potions?”

Akaashi answered from where he was leaning against the back wall, “In about an hour. You’ve both been unconscious for almost a full day.”

Tetsurou groaned. “Coach is going to kill me.” He turned to Kenma, “Why aren’t you at practice?”

“I didn’t want to leave or make anyone come with me. I called Yaku and told him to tell coach we are both sick.”

“He bought that?”

Kenma shrugged, “We’ve never skipped before. Well, except for you during camp.”

“Right.” Tetsurou took a deep breath, then let it out again. “How long until we’re better?”

Tetsurou’s mother patted his arm. “Your rib will probably be better by the morning, but the tremors will take a bit longer to leave completely.”

“Shit.”

Hermione snorted. That summarized things nicely. “If we’re on bedrest for the remainder of the day, could someone at least bring me some books?”

“Aw, come on, Mio. Am I not entertainment enough for you?”

“Please, Kuroo-senpai. Anyone would want to read a book instead of dealing with your atrocious sense of humor.”

“Oi! You brat, that is not how you show respect for your senpai.”

“Hai, hai.” Tsukki stood up, then headed toward the door. “I’ll get you some potions books, senpai.”

“That’s more like it.”

“I just don’t want to deal with your sickbed complaints.” Kei disappeared around the doorway, heading toward the stairs.

“Ungrateful kouhai.”

Hermione giggled. “He didn’t say which potions books he would be bringing, Tetsurou. I’m pretty sure my first-year textbook is up there since I brought those to help explain magic.”

“Oh, please no. That would be sooo boring.” He groaned. “I bet that’s exactly what the brat gets, just to mess with me. Why do I have to have the snarky Karasuno kouhai? Bokuto, trade me chibi-chan.”

“Bro, no way! Hinata loves me. He’s awesome.” He looked nervously at Tsukki’s family. “Not that Tsukki’s not awesome, but Hinata’s all kabam and springy. And he totally gets me.”

“But bro, I’m dying here.”

“You are not dying, Tetsurou.” His mother’s voice was stern and effectively killed the teasing mood that had developed.

Tetsurou gave his mother a small smile. “Yeah.” He sighed, “I know. Thanks to Hermione and her friends.” 

“I should hope so, since it is also thanks to her that you were in danger in the first place.” Everyone in the room stiffened. Hermione thought Akiteru was going to say something in her defence, but she caught his eye and shook her head. 

“Okaa-san! Not that again!” 

His mother ignored him, instead turning toward Hermione. “You were serious yesterday at lunch. I thought you were just being naïve, but you were careful about what you promised.” Hermione bristled at being called naïve. She had fought in a war and lost her parents. She was not naïve. Tetsurou’s mother sighed, reaching forward to hold her son’s hand. “I realized the second Kenma-kun called. You never promised to keep Tetsurou from being hurt.”

Ah. She had wondered if the woman had caught that. “I don’t make promises I can’t keep. You start to lose trust in the promises themselves if you do.”

“And you believe you can keep him alive?”

Hermione met the woman’s eyes, trying to convey her earnestness. “I wouldn’t promise it, not if it were just me. One well-timed avada kedavra is all it would take to kill us both. But Bellatrix wants to torture us, not kill us quickly. And my friends are here. She will not succeed in killing us. I can promise that.”

“But you can’t promise that she won’t be able to torture you.”

“No. Not that.” Hermione sighed. “I wish I could, but no matter how good I am, Bellatrix is unpredictable, strong, and skilled. And she has a lot of reasons to hate me. The deaths of her husband and brother-in-law will only add to that list.”

“I am curious. You have a friend guarding each person in your family, along with Kenma, but not my husband and me. Why?”

“It’s a precaution. Malfoy doesn’t believe Bellatrix will go after any of them for at least a few weeks, and she wants to hurt me far more than Tetsurou, so you and your husband are further down that list.” Hermione sighed, “Though if she knows that Tetsurou is to blame for the poison, that balance may shift a bit. Either way, Akaashi-san and Bill have warded your home.”

Tetsurou’s mother continued to evaluate her. “I noticed.”

Akaashi spoke up, “They are welcome to stay behind my family’s wards, if they desire, though we cannot guard them during the day.”

“Thank you, Akaashi-san. My husband and I will consider it.” Tetsurou’s mother stood up. “I must go update his father.” She turned to her son, “Keep me updated, as well, or I will return. For now this location has better defenses, and it’s not wise to move you, so the Tsukishimas have offered for you to stay here.” She paused, her voice becoming stern, “Do not make me regret that decision.”

“Hai, okaasan.” She patted his hand, then walked toward the door. Akiteru rose to show her to the door. 

Hermione caught Tetsurou’s eyes for a second and felt herself pulled into a memory.

_A young Tetsurou was sitting on his bed, complaining about wanting to go see Kenma._

_Tetsurou’s mother was sitting beside him, patiently reapplying a paste to his arm. “Kenma-san is scared right now, Tetsurou-kun. He doesn’t want to be around magic, and he’s not sure if that includes you or not.”_

_“Then I’ll just have to convince him it’s safe! That I’ll keep him safe!”_

Hermione absently rubbed her head. That must have been just after the fire. Tetsurou had been burned, and his mother had treated him. Her gaze flickered to where Kenma was still sitting next to Tetsurou, legs drawn up into his chair, content to sit next to his friend and play his videogame. 

Kei came in, carrying several books. “Gomen. I got here a few minutes ago, but things seemed tense, so…”

“It’s alright, Tsukki. Just admit that you’re scared of my mother. We’ll all understand.”

“I’m hardly _scared_.” He shuffled the books around in his arms, then handed two to Hermione. “I haven’t seen you read those, yet, so that’s what I brought down. If you have read them…” he shrugged, “I’m not going back up.” 

Hermione looked at them curiously. He’d picked the herbology book Neville had lent her along with one about a creature named the jubjub bird that Luna swore existed, but Hermione thought was just made up by someone who had read too much Lewis Carroll. “These are fine, Kei-kun. Arigatou.” She actually hadn't read either. 

Kei held out her copy of _Magical Drafts and Potions_ toward Tetsurou.

“Tsukki, I’m afraid you’re becoming predictable. Your dear cousin assumed you would get me this.”

“You don’t want it? I thought you’d find it interesting since it has her notes in it.”

Hermione’s eyes widened as Bokuto let out a deep laugh. 

“Oya?” Tetsurou was grinning. He held out his hand, but Kei pulled the book back.

“No, you really didn’t seem to want it. How about, ‘The Potioneer’s Uses for Thestrals and Other Rare Creatures’?”

“As interesting as that title sounds, I think I’ll take the first-year book. I should review the fundamentals before I sit for my mastery, after all.”

“If you insist.” The two shared a smirk and Kei passed it over, setting the other book beside Tetsurou’s bed.

“Kei-kun…” Hermione groaned and hid her face in her hands, “Why?”

He shrugged. “The books were heavy.”

Luna giggled, “It’s always good to remember things together. You’ll be fine Hermione.”

Akiteru poked his head into the room, “Akaashi-san, Bokuto-san, Kenma-san, will you be staying for dinner? Okaa-san wants to know how much food to prepare. We’d love to have you.”

Kenma spoke up quietly, “I’m staying.” Tetsurou smiled at his friend, reaching over to rustle his hair, but Kenma batted the hand away. 

Akaashi shook his head, “Thank you, but we should be heading home soon. Our parents expected us to return once we knew how they were doing.”

“Of course.” Akiteru smiled at the two of them, “Feel free to come visit anytime.” His head disappeared.

“Akaaaashiiii….” Bokuto whined, “Do we have to go? Kenma’s staying! And I want to know what embarrassing things Granger-san wrote.” He waved toward Tetsurou. “Look at him! He can’t stop smirking!” 

Kei spoke up, “I’m pretty sure that’s just his default expression.” 

Kenma shook his head, “This is his ‘I’m about to start teasing someone’ smirk.”

Akaashi sighed, ignoring the fact that Bokuto was clinging onto his arm and giving him his best pleading expression. “We have to go, Bokuto. Come on.”

“But I don’t wanna…” Akaashi ignored him and began walking toward the door, pulling the pouting spiker behind him.

“We’ll stop by tomorrow to see how you both are doing, Granger-san, Kuroo-san.”

Tetsurou was still engrossed in her textbook, so Hermione responded for them both, “Arigatou, Akaashi-san. Mata-ne.”

He nodded, then resumed tugging his soulmate out the door.

Tetsurou looked up and smirked at her the second the door closed. “You thought lethe water must just be from some river in Greece?”

Kenma frowned, “It’s not?”

“Shut. Up. I was eleven, alright?”

Tetsurou laughed, “Kenma-cat, it was just named after the myth.” Tetsurou’s smirk returned as he looked back at the book. “For an eleven-year-old you were very opinionated and seemed to think this,” he checked the cover “Arsenius Jigger, what a horrible name, did not say nearly enough in his textbook.” He shook his head, “It’s a textbook for first years, Hermione. You’ll have to excuse the man for leaving some things out.”

“But he left too much out! Some of those things were essential.”

“Like: ‘Why does Newt Scamander say that horklumps don’t have any uses if the juice is being used in this potion? Are there different types of horklumps?’ Yes, I can see that inconsistency being something Jigger should explain.”

“Ugh. I said some.”

“And to answer your second question, love, no. There are not different types of horklumps. Although harvesting the juice at different times during the lunar cycle can affect the juice’s potency.” Tetsurou snickered. “I wouldn’t want to be accused of failing to include important information like Mr. Jigger here.”

“I’m not listening to this.” Hermione opened up Neville’s book and tried to ignore the sound of Tetsurou’s laughter. 

Thankfully, he soon had to abandon the book as her aunt came in with their potions and dinner. Hermione tried not to gag at the horrid taste, but Tetsurou still laughed at the face she made.

“It doesn’t taste horrid to you?”

He shrugged, “When potions is your field of choice, you get used to disgusting things pretty quickly.”

“In other words, you hate the taste too, you’re just better at hiding it.”

“Maybe.”

She rolled her eyes, then began eating the yakitori her aunt had brought them.

Tetsurou sighed. “Whenever we get out of these beds, I will take you on a proper date.”

Hermione blinked. She’d completely forgotten that they had been supposed to go on a date Sunday night. She smiled at Tetsurou, “I can’t wait.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this quiet chapter after the turbulence of the previous one!


	21. August 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

Her nightmare that night was of the Room of Requirement. Flying over the flames of fiendyre, trying to escape its jaws….jaws that morphed into the Basilisk’s huge mouth in the chamber, of the jaws of water that chased them when the horcrux was destroyed. Then into Nagini’s jaws as the snake lunged at her over and over and over, flashing between the final battle and Godric’s Hollow in an endless loop, Harry’s wand breaking as each snake lunged. 

She and Tetsurou woke up at the same time, sitting up and panting heavily. 

Neville started from where he was standing watch by the window. He clutched his heart. “That’s bloody freaky you two.”

Hermione’s answering laughter was shaky. “Sorry, Neville. Our nightmares are joined. Nagini.” And other snakes, but she hardly felt like elaborating.

“That bloody snake?” He sighed, returning to looking out the window. “I have nightmares about her, too. That I missed.”

Hermione shuddered. “But you didn’t. You killed her and she’s dead.”

“Wait.” Tetsurou pointed at Neville incredulously. “He killed the snake?” 

“Yeah. With the Sword of Godric Gryffindor.” Neville flashed them a proud grin.

Tetsurou flopped back onto his bed. “I swear you people could tell me anything and I’d believe you. The truth sounds just as outlandish as anything you make up.”

“I convinced a teacher to follow me into the Forbidden Forest where she was subsequently abducted by centaurs and we were saved from those centaurs by a giant.”

Tetsurou stared at her incredulously. “I have absolutely no clue if that’s real or fake. Longbottom-san? Help me out?”

“Real.” Neville shook his head. “And Grawp would never hurt Hermione.”

“Grawp?”

“The giant. Our groundskeeper’s halfbrother.”

“You British wizards think such odd things are completely normal.”

Hermione laughed. 

Still watching out the window, Neville countered him. “From our standpoint, wizards playing a muggle sport is equaly bizarre.”

“Touche, I suppose.” Tetsurou sighed. “What time is it?”

Hermione flicked her wrist to acces her wand, then cast tempus. “3:30.”

“Tch.” 

“Take the potion before you go back to sleep. Pomfrey made me promise to give it to you both if you work up. She said that you should take it as often as possible, but that you also needed your sleep, so I wasn’t to wake you up myself.”

Hermione wrinkled her nose in disgust but picked up the potion by her bed. “Thank you, Neville.” She drank the potion in one swallow, then quickly reached for the cup of water that sat next to it. “I feel like it tastes more disgusting each time.”

“It’s the salamander tail. It tastes worse after it builds up in your system.”

“Lovely.” She wanted to ask why the tail did that when the blood alone didn’t, but a large yawn interrupted her. Tetsurou laughed quietly. 

“We should try to get back to sleep, Mio. We really don’t get enough of it on a daily basis.”

She agreed, but also thought it was more likely that they would merely lie there trying to sleep rather than actually succeeding Nevertheless, she rolled over and tried to sleep.

\----------------------------------------------------------------

They’d gotten sleep. 

Then they’d both simultaneously woken up from yet another nightmare, this time of casting petrificus on Neville, then running past Fluffy and continuing though the other tasks to reach the philosopher’s stone.

“What the fuck kind of messed up school did you go to?”

Neville laughed from over by the window. “What was it this time?”

“Philosopher’s Stone.”

“Ah.” He sighed, “At least I got some house points out of that one.”

Tetsurou looked between them incredulously, “How are you two friends? She cursed you! When she was eleven!”

“Eh. Her wand has pointed at my enemies far more than it’s been pointed at me, mate.” Neville shrugged, “And honestly, after the war I would do the same thing she did back then. Even if it means you die, there are some things you just have to do. Of course, we were only eleven, then. They really should have just told a teacher.”

Hermione groaned, “We _tried_ that.”

“You’re awake.” Hermione turned to see Kei standing in the doorway. “It’s just us right now. Mom and Dad both went to work, and Akiteru went for groceries since we’re low.”

Hermione was about to respond, then winced as a tremor raced through her. Kei’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll go get you some breakfast to eat after your potion.”

“Arigatou, Kei-kun.” Hermione eyed the potion on the coffee table with distaste, but quickly drank it, as did Tetsurou.

Malfoy walked in, brushing rain drops off his shoulders. “Take a break, Longbottom. The uncle’s at work and it’s my turn to guard.” Hermione absently noticed that the dragon was rattling on her wrist with more urgency than it typically did in Malfoy’s presence. That was odd.

More annoying, though, was the prospect of dealing with Malfoy for a few hours. She appreciated his help, but who thought that was a good idea? And hadn’t the plan been for him to search for Bellatrix and keep his distance? Maybe something had changed after the attack. Hermione sighed.

Neville stood up and stretched. “Alright. Umm… security question…What word did you say last night that surprised Hermione?”

Malfoy rolled his eyes, “muggleborn.”

“Alright, it’s you. See you in a few hours, Hermione, Kuroo-san.”

Neville yawned, then walked out of the room. They heard the front door shut with a click. 

“They set up a silencing ward in here.” Malfoy was looking around the corners of the room, eyes stopping on the various magical items scattered here and there. “You scream, Granger? Have nightmares?”

“You should know. You’re in some of them.” Like when he’d watched his aunt carve out her arm.

“Petrificus totalus.” Hermione’s eyes widened at the first syllable and she flicked her wand into her hand, but she knew she’d be too slow. She pulled up a wandless shield, but it was too weak, and the spell shattered it. She froze as the spell hit, wand arching up to attack.

“Expelliarmus.” Tetsurou’s wand came flying into Malfoy’s hand. Tetsurou jumped out of the bed, but another petrificus caught him and he fell.

“Tsk, tsk, Granger. You make things so easy. Do you think I don’t know my darling nephew’s magical signature?” Malfoy? But the vows… “I was surprised when I felt it in Japan, and even more so when I tracked it down and it was woven into wards with a Weasley’s signature.” Bellatrix shrugged Malfoy’s shoulders. “It didn’t take long to track him down.” She laughed, “Really, the boy is too predictable. Hides exactly like his father did.” Her face twisted in anger, “The brat actually fought me!” Bellatrix twirled Malfoy’s wand absently. “He’ll pay for that.” 

The witch walked around their beds and hauled up Tetsurou. “I’ll be taking this one, dearie.” Hermione’s heart clenched. She was going to separate them?

No. She fought against the petrificus, but couldn’t move an inch. Please let someone come, just one person to catch Bellatrix by surprise before she left…

Someone did come.

Kei. 

The breakfast plates clattered to the floor as Bellatrix hit him with a full body-bind curse. 

No!

Hermione fought against the petrificus, slammed her magic outward as hard as she could.

“Oh, lovely. A consolation prize.” Bellatrix grinned at her, “Shall I take this one, too?” She paused, “I’ll take your silence as a yes.”

“Levicorpus.” She dragged Tetsurou over to where Kei had fallen, then grabbed his shoulder. “Let’s play a game. Can you find them before I kill them? Or will you die first.” She gave her a twisted grin, “It’ll be fun, mudblood.” At the last word, the ring Bellatrix was wearing flashed and the three of them disappeared. 

A portkey. They’d never put up wards to keep people from leaving by portkey because they’d always wanted people to be able to use the portkeys Hermione had made.

Hermione fell to the floor as the spell released. She felt empty. So empty. She wanted to sob.

She pulled the galleon necklace out and pressed hard against it, activating the proetan charm signal. She tried to get out of the bed but stumbled and fell.

Her legs. They were still shaking from the cruciatus. Tetsurou wouldn’t be able to run. She cursed as the front door slammed open. Charlie. “She took them! She took Tetsu and Kei-kun!”

“Bellatrix?” Charlie was at her side. “What happened, Hermione?” The others were coming in. Neville. Bill. 

“Bellatrix knew Malfoy’s signature and tracked him. He fought her, but she won. She wasn’t happy he fought—she had his wand. Said he would pay. Used his hair for Polyjuice. She answered Neville’s question about yesterday, so she probably used legilimancy to get information from him.”

“Bloody hell.”

“I was so—stupid. I knew it was odd for him to be here, but I thought maybe you had changed—”

She gasped, doubling over as she felt the crucio over the bond. It was weaker, though. 

Distance. 

Hermione let out a strangled sob. 

Luna came in, dragging a bewildered Kenma behind her. Viktor followed not soon after with Akiteru.

Her cheek was stinging. She reached up to feel the blood pooling from a cut. Another sting on her upper arm. 

Tetsurou must be trying to dodge spells. She had to heal him.

She reached for her wand, but Charlie’s hand stilled hers. “I’ve got it, Hermione. Save your magic.” His wand began to spin as he muttered the healing spells. 

“But you were just magically exhausted…” He really shouldn’t be casting any magic right now.

He gave her a stern look. “I’m the best at healing spells here, Hermione. Let me help.” She sighed, but nodded as another cut appeared, this time on her leg.

Bill knelt down at her other side. “Hermione, where is he? Try to locate him with the bond.”

Hermione shook her head. “It’s empty, it just feels empty.”

“Focus! I know it must feel terrible, given what you’ve told us, but Bellatrix can’t prevent you from knowing his location. No matter the distance, you can find him.”

Hermione shut her eyes. She tried to focus. There was… something. “South.” She opened her eyes, suddenly exhausted. “Far south.”

“As in a different country or still in Japan.”

“I don’t know!” Hermione shook her head again, “Far south.” She winced, leaning against Charlie’s arm as another weak crucio washed over her.

“I’m going to call Akaashi-san so he can get us further south in Japan.” He pulled the phone out of his pocket. “Hermione, where are all your healing potions? Does Kuroo-san have more?”

“Suitcase. Fourth compartment.” Akiteru ran toward the stairs. 

Hermione curled up, unable to speak as Tetsurou was hit by what she suspected was a bombarda. It felt like her rib broke again, but Charlie’s wand was already moving, pulling the bone back together.

Kenma spoke up, “Kuroo has healing potions. I know where they are.”

Luna smiled at him, “Then let’s go.” They disappeared. 

Hermione’s eyes widened as she felt a familiar burn in her arm. No. 

Not another scar.

Each breath became shorter than the last as her vision tunneled, her entire being focused on the burning in her arm. 

An angry, bloodred ‘B’ stared back at her, blood dripping down from the cut. The letter ‘l’ soon followed, then two ‘o’s.’ 

Charlie’s arms wrapped around her. Blood dripped down onto the carpet. 

Bill’s wand was out, pointing at the cursed marks, but she knew there was little he could do. He needed the dagger to break the curse. 

She faintly heard Viktor on the phone in the background.

She tore her eyes from the pain. Trying to focus on something else, anything other than the image of that woman using magic to hold Tetsurou down as she carved into his flesh. 

The burning stopped. She was finished. Even the pain soon ebbed, thanks to Bill. Hermione couldn’t look at her arm, but… she had to know. She had to know what had been done to Tetsurou. What scar that woman had given him, her soulmate, an eighteen-year-old who’d never known war. “What does it say?”

“Blood traitor.”

A new voice. Akaashi. Bokuto.

She shakily stood up. Charlie helped her. “Take me south, Akaashi. Take me as far south as you can.”

He nodded. 

“Can you take me, too? She needs to be healed.”

“Yes.” Akaashi stepped forward to grab their hands, then everything disappeared in a swirl.

The transportation ministry. Charlie held her while Akaashi spoke in rapid Japanese with the person at the desk, who looked quite alarmed. 

Akaashi returned, then dragged them to a torii gate. “The ministry will look for them, too.” Before she could thank him, they were under the gate and everything twisted once more. 

She stumbled to the ground, heaving. What was this? She was dizzy. And warm. Too warm. Like--- “Charlie. Cool me down. Now.” The poison. The poison Tetsurou had used to kill Rabastan. Please Merlin, let this work. Cold water rushed around her. The warmth faded and she gased for air. “I think it worked. Thank Merlin.” Apparently they shared body temperature. 

“Ignis Mors?”

She nodded, “I’m not warm anymore, though.” 

_My witch is brilliant. So brilliant._

Hermione clenched her teeth in frustration. She didn’t feel brilliant. Where, was he? South, south, south…

_She’ll figure it out. This crazy fucked up witch chose someplace so importa—_

Tetsurou’s thought was cut off as another crucio raced through the bond. Hermione screamed. The pain was so much worse here. It felt like fiery pokers were plunging into her skin.

She was closer. Focus. Focus on what Tetsurou had said. 

“South.” She hissed in frustration, then her eyes flew open. “Australia. She’s taken them to my parent’s old house in Australia.”

Of course. Bellatrix would want to make her fail to save her new loved ones in the same exact place. 

“You’re sure?” Akaashi was kneeling next to her. When had she fallen?

Hermione nodded. She was right. She had to be. 

Charlie looked at her in concern. “You take her, Akaashi. I can get back to the house on my own.” Having said that, he disapparated. 

Akaashi pulled Hermione up, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to steady her and then apparating back to the Tsukishima’s house. The second they landed Hermione stumbled forward, clutching her stomach. She felt so nauseous from the pain, from the twisting of the constant travel. She closed her eyes tightly. 

When she opened them, everyone was watching her with worried expressions. 

Kenma was there again, clutching a large bag tightly. Her suitcase was on the floor. She reached for the latch, pressing her thumb to the handle and pulling it until there were four clicks. It sprung open, revealing a large array of potions. 

“Bloody hell, Hermione. How much do you have in there.”

“Everything.” Everything Harry might have needed. Everything she might now need.

“Kenma-san, put the potions in here.” He nodded and came over, gently lowering them as Hermione sat up and turned to Akaashi. “Akaashi-san, can you get us a portkey to Australia?” 

He nodded. “The address?”

“Newcastle. 52 Brown Street.” She had never sold it. Hadn’t wanted to face it ever again. 

Akaashi disappeared. 

Hermione pulled out two bezoars from the suitcase and put them in her pocket, along with a vial of peruvian darkness powder. Then she grabbed a strengthening solution and swallowed it in one gulp, along with a wiggenweld potion. Anything. Anything to help him.

“Hermione, I think you might need this a bit more than me, once we get there.” Hermione laughed in relief at the object in Neville’s outstretched hand. Harry’s invisibility cloak.

“Thank you, Neville.” She carefully picked it up and laid it over her arm since it wouldn’t fit in any of her pockets. It also had the convenient effect of hiding the word blood traitor.

“Where’s my bag?”

Viktor handed it to her. She quickly summoned the spare wands inside, holstering Bellatrix’s to her left arm and another to each leg. 

She tried not to dwell on the fact that she hadn’t felt pain for the past few minutes. Hermione was both relieved for Tetsurou and terrified for Kei. 

Akaashi returned and unfolded a tourist map. “This will take us there. Grab the potions and touch it, we have one minute.” 

Everyone immediately reached for it, even Kenma and Akiteru. Their presence made her nervous, but she understood. She couldn’t ask them to stay behind, not when their loved one’s lives were on the line. 

Hermione flipped her trunk’s lid closed and it locked automatically, then she grabbed the map.

A second later, she felt the familiar tug. 

And then she threw up on Charlie.

They’d landed in a heap, and he had been the unfortunate one to collapse beneath her. 

“Thanks for that, ‘Mione.” He quickly pulled out his wand and did scourgify. “How are you feeling? Do you need a potion?”

Hermione didn’t answer him. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, then slowly pushed herself to her feet. It felt like the world was still spinning around her. 

_She’s here. I knew she’d come. She’s brought help. We’ll survive this, I know we will._

Tetsurou. She gathered her strength, stepping out of the crowded alleyway and down the street, ignoring the surprised looks from the civilians as a whole crowd of people emerged from the single alley.

She knew this street. One right turn, two lefts and…

And she was staring at the house that had been her parents. She’d been here once before, last May, but nothing had changed. There was still a blackened hole where one wall should have been, the wood burnt to a crisp. All the doors were blown out, or parts were hanging limply from hinges. One whole side of the house had collapsed, but a few rooms in the back were still structurally sound. 

Her parents hadn’t been in those. 

_She’ll protect you, Tsukki. Stop trying to be brave, damn it! This is not the time to taunt your fucking opponent!_

Her heart sped up at Tetsurou’s thoughts. What was Kei-kun doing?

Focus. She needed to focus. Bellatrix has added wards. So many of them. The whole property was covered. She must have spent whole months layering new wards every foot of the property. 

_She’s almost here, Tsukki, stop it!_

“Bloody hell.” Bill was staring at the wards in horror, Akaashi next to him. He shook his head, “Alright, let’s get started. Akaashi-san, see if anyone in your family can help with these wards. Viktor and Luna, guard Kenma-san and Akiteru-san. Neville and Bokuto-san, make sure no one approaches us or notices us. Charlie, heal Hermione.”

_Hurt us, dammit, not him!_

Tetsurou’s voice reverberated through her skull. She felt like something snapped within her brain. She steadied herself on her trunk, then fumbled to unlock it. 

Hermione reached for her trunk, barely unlocking it before she collapsed once more as blood sprang across her chest, the cut long and deep. Sectumsempra. 

_Finally. Shit, Tsukki’s leg._

“Vulnera sanentur.” Charlie’s wand pointed at her steadily, and the blood slowly reentered her body. She lay there, gasping, then slowly pushed herself up again. Her legs were shaking and she could barely stand, but she had to keep moving forward. She approached the wards, reached out to touch them, to try to study their reaction, but her hand passed through.

_Why’d she pause? She’s staring at something._

Hermione froze. Her hand was through the wards. And Bellatrix knew.

Bellatrix wanted her to come. Wanted to torture them together as the finale to this whole ordeal. 

She swallowed, then pushed forward gently.

“Hermione!”

Charlie’s arms were around her waist. “No!” He was pulling her back. Hermione struggled, but she was no match for Charlie’s strength even on a normal day. “No! Let me go, Charlie!”

“You’ll die!”

“I’ll die if I stay here! I have to help them!” 

“Stupify!”

Charlie went limp, and Hermione pushed herself out of his arms, not looking back until she was through the first set of wards. 

“Neville…”

He had his wand out, pointed straight at Charlie. Everyone was staring at him in horror. “Go, Hermione. Do what you need to do. We’ll be right behind you.”

Bill moved first, running to his brother’s side and casting rennervate.  
Hermione swallowed and nodded tightly to Neville, clenching the fabric of Harry’s cloak in her hand. “I know you will be.”

Bill tried to plea with her one last time. “Hermione, if you go we can’t heal you. If you go she’s more likely to kill your cousin.”

She shook her head. That was true, but…“If I go, I might save them from more pain. I might save us all from dying.” She smiled softly at him, “I know you’ll break these wards, Bill.”

Hermione turned around and stepped through the second set of wards. 

Had Bellatrix stopped paying attention to Kei?

She threw the cloack over her and held out her wand in front of her as she passed through ward after ward. Finally she was at the front door. 

_You’re such a brilliant witch._

He was talking to her? Akaashi and Bokuto were able to… So their bond had developed further.

She had no doubt that Bellatrix knew that she was here. She would have felt her pass through the wards, and Bellatrix could force her to reveal her location by casting crucio on Tetsurou, so the cloak would only buy her seconds of time.

_She knows you’re here. She’s holding Tsukki._

Hermione passed through the front door quietly, and immediately heard Bellatrix cackling.  
“Little Granger’s come to pla-ay.”

The bracelet flare to life, vibrating softly against her skin. The reminder of Tetsurou was comforting.

She needed to get to Kei-kun. The cloak could hide him, even if it wasn’t helpful to her. But Bellatrix was holding him somehow. So first she needed to get Bellatrix to release him. She shook her head in frustration. She needed more details. How did she talk back? She tried to imagine sending a thought along the bond, asking specifically where Kei was.

_In the middle of the room. She has a knife to his throat. Both of our arms are bound._

Bloody hell. Could things be more difficult? Bad Hermione, don’t think like that. You don’t want things to get worse. Focus on the present. She pushed another thought through the bond, asking if Malfoy was there.

_No._

She didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. One less hostage, but also one less capable ally. And where in Merlin’s name did she put Malfoy if he wasn’t here?

“Come out to play, Granger. I won’t wait long.”

_Shit. Come now!_

She dropped the cloak to the floor, keeping it hidden behind the wall. No more time to plan. She would have to trust her instincts.

Hermione stepped into the opening, encanting protego as she moved. Bellatrix at least wouldn’t hurt Tetsurou by hitting her. 

Kei.

Bellatrix was in her own body, now, and had Kei’s arms bound behind his back and had him on his knees, a knife at his throat. Blood was beeding along its tip. Hermione knew that knife. She remembered it digging into her own skin. It was already coated in fresh blood. Tetsurou’s blood.

“Thought you’d keep me waiting, hmm? Trying to plan something with lover boy?” Bellatrix’s face was withered, ashen lines criss-crossing it as a result of Mrs. Weasley’s spell.

Hermione crept toward Tetsurou, stepping in front of him with her shield.

“I don’t think so. Drop the wand or the muggle won’t last much longer.”

Hermione let her wand clatter to the floor, her shield dropping out of existence. Compliance was better than hurting Kei. She could always find a way to pick it back up later. 

“There’s a good girl. Now the others.” Kei winced as the knife pressed harder. “Don’t try anything, either. I know you have my wand, I can feel it.”

Hermione carefully avoided eye contact with her and flicked her wrist to release Bellatrix’s wand. She slowly reached down and let the two on her thighs release, but her hand stayed near her pocket. 

Bellatrix grinned at her, “Thought you’d keep that little trophy, hmm? I could feel your magic touching it last week. It was sickening.” Last week? The bond. Bellatrix had somehow felt their magic hit her wand when she had accepted the bond with Tetsurou. “I wasn’t about to let a mudblood like you keep something so precious.” Hermione’s brain raced. The attack on the Burrow had been right after they had solidified the bond. Bellatrix had chosen to target her all because they’d used her wand in the spell, when that’s what they had been trying to avoid in the first place. 

Bellatrix’s hand dug into Kei’s hair, yanking his head back, and she dropped the knife onto the ground before pulling out her wand. “Like my knife? You’ve figured it out by now, I’m sure.” Bellatrix laughed, “You can’t heal a curse scar without the item that caused the curse. They’re all connected.” All connected? Hermione felt dread pool in her stomach. Her arm. Her neck. Tetsurou’s arm. Kei’s neck. And the knife.

“Bombarda.” The spell hit the knife, and Hermione felt all the scars flare to life. Her arms were on fire. Her throat felt raw, so raw. She coughed, hard. Blood splattered the pavement in front of her. She tried to focus. Tried to ignore the pain in her arms, keeping them relaxed, near her pockets, ready to react.

The knife was in fragments. Hermione shakily drew a breath and looked up to glare at Bellatrix. 

Kei had blood trickling from his mouth. 

Tetsurou was still coughing behind her. 

Bellatrix held out her current wand, “Accio.” The second Bellatrix released Kei to catch the wand, Hermione pulled the vial of darkness powder from her pocket and tossed it toward the ground. 

She grabbed Kei’s shirt, pulling him toward her through the complete darkness. She heard him hiss in pain, but she couldn’t do much about his leg at the moment. “Accio wand!” a wand slapped into her palm and Hermione ducked a second later as a spell whizzed by overhead. 

“I don’t like it when people play dirty, Granger.” Shit. The dust was clearing. 

Hermione frantically felt for the ropes that bound Kei. There. “Diffindo, Protego” her shield snapped into place as Bellatrix’s curse honed in on their location from her voice. 

“Use the cloak. Go!” She pushed Kei toward where she remembered the door being, ignoring his grunts of pain. She didn’t know how badly his leg was hurt, but he had to get outside. They could heal him outside. 

Now she had to worry about Tetsurou. 

The dust had cleared, and Kei was thankfully nowhere to be seen.

“All that work, just to hide the muggle and get a wand.” Bellatrix sneered at her. She felt Tetsurou shakily stand up behind her. His arms were still bound. She needed to fix that. “No matter. You’re both half-dead already. How many more crucios do you think you can take? Shall we find out?”

Hermione frantically dropped the shield and levitated the rubble around them, flinging it into the path of each curse. Bellatrix laughed, “How long will you be able to keep this up?”

Not long. But Tetsurou was still defenseless and unable to move his arms. That had to change before anything else. She frantically sent a thought down the bond, asking him to turn around and show her his arms in 3...2…1..

“Bombarda.”

She felt Tetsurou shift behind her as Bellatrix was forced to throw up a shield and stop her attack. Hermione turned toward his arms. “Diffindo!”

A crucio slammed into her back and she collapsed on top of Tetsurou as they both fell to the floor screaming. Pain. All she could feel was pain. Her nerves were on fire, as were Tetsurou’s, and they were screaming for relief. She could feel every ounce of his pain along with hers. She couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything except scream for relief. Her limbs stretched nd withdrew, seizing as they tried to find some escape, any escape at all. The pain stretched on 

and on 

and on

and on

and…

“Had enough, lovelies?”

There was no pain. 

No pain.

She opened her eyes blearily.

All she could see was black.

No, that wasn’t right.

A shirt. 

Why was a shirt there?

She tried to lift her head but couldn’t move. 

Pain.

Laughter.

Why?

Bellatrix.

She tried to move again. 

Her hand twitched.

Confusion.

Why?

She was confused.

No. 

Someone else.

The bond. 

Tetsurou. 

Hermione leapt toward the bond in her mind, drowning herself in it. Seeking him out. Warmth. Companionship. Strength. Protect. Partners.

A hand. 

A hand on her elbow. Warm, calloused.

She tried to move again, managing to lift herself up slightly, but then she collapsed.

Pain.

Pain filled her mind as she landed on Tetsurou. 

The hand tightened.

It slowly pushed her.

Slowly, slowly he pushed her off. 

She rolled onto the floor.

Gasps.

Hers.

His. 

Bellatrix was laughing. Taunting them. 

Wand.

She needed a wand.

Surprise her.

Act fast.

One chance. 

Wand.

Determination filled her. 

Hers?

His.

Tetsurou’s hand clenched her elbow.

“Draco geli.” 

Ice poured forth from beside her, solidifying into a massive dragon, curling and rearing up, just like the one around her wrist. It let out a roar. 

The roof was falling. 

She hugged Tetsurou and he held her tightly.

The dragon circled around them, a shield of ice. 

Bellatrix was screaming crucio over and over again.

Scales of ice crashed to the ground.

The dragon roared.

Exhaustion.

Tetsurou was exhausted, drained.

“Mio…” Hermione tried to sit up, tried to see his face.

“Mio, I can’t…”

His arms loosened around her.

Numbness. 

“Tetsu!” She could still feel him, he was still there.

Unconscious. 

Hermione clutched him, the ice dragon still encircling them. Bellatrix flung spell after spell and scales kept crashing to the ground around them. Flames licked the ice but failed to do anything more than make the surface slightly slippery. Hermione was grateful for the reprieve, but she knew it couldn’t last forever. She needed to find the wand Tetsurou had used.

Slowly she released Tetsurou and began feeling around on the ground beneath them.

Then there were other voices. Bill. Charlie. Viktor. 

Bellatrix laughing, but not flinging spells.

Silence. 

She could hear fainter voices in the distance. What had happened?

“Hermione!!!” 

Neville. 

Safety. 

“In here, Neville.” Hermione slumped back against the ice, curling up against Tetsurou’s side. She coughed, her throat still raw. Blood fell onto Tetsurou’s shirt. Hermione doubted he’d care.

“Are you two alright?”

“We will be.” Her throat and arms were on fire. She could feel the tremmors still from the cruciatus, but she hoped they would heal with time. “Tetsurou’s unconcscious. Magical exhaustion.”

She heard footsteps, then the dragon roared.

“Bloody hell, Hermione. Can you tell the dragon we’re friends?”

She blinked. That was…problematic. She heard Bokuto laughing on the other side of the dragon.

“Weasley-san, this is Kuroo’s doing.”

Laughter and cursing. Hermione sighed, leaning her head back against the cool ice. “Let me find a wand. I’ll wake him.”

“Don’t bother.” Charlie. “If he’s drained that bad he needs to rest. We can handle this.”

She closed her eyes, listening to the soft murmur of voices. Bill. Bokuto. Luna. Neville. Charlie. Akaashi. There were a few more, too, ones she didn’t recognize. Akaashi’s family? 

“Kei-kun?’

“Outside with his brother and Luna. We healed what we could, then gave him a sleeping draught.”

“What you could?” That was not a good sign. Because Bill and Charlie had such dangerous jobs, they could heal a lot more than the average witch or wizard. 

“His leg is in really bad shape, Hermione. It will probably need some skele-grow and maybe something more than that. We’ve already asked Pomfrey to come and look at him and you two, though. With Bellatrix gone, we don’t have to worry about her tracking more people, and we know you’d rather he be healed by someone you know and trust.” 

They knew her well. “Bellatrix is gone, then?” 

“The jabberknolls have all been silenced.”

“She’s dead.” Neville clarified. “Bill destroyed the last ward a minute or so after your dragon appeared. Bellatrix fled, but we’d put up our own apparition and portkey wards, so all she could do was run.” There was satisfaction in his voice as he continued, “I may have planted some surprises for her around the perimeter.”

“Surprises?”

“Snargaluff, Venemous Tentacula, and Devil’s Snare. Akaashi-san warded their perimeter to be fire-proof, too. She probably could have dealt with one easily, but when all three attacked at once and took her by surprise…well, she’s dead.”

Hermione smiled, “I’m proud of you, Neville.”

“Thanks. It’s… she won’t hurt anyone ever again.” He sighed, “I should probably go start dismantling the plants, though. I can’t leave them in a muggle neighborhood like this. Ummm…Bill, could you help me with that? It’s not something I should do alone.”

Hermione heard Bill’s voice reply, but the words were lost as Charlie called out again. “Alright, Bokuto-san told me how it was made, and it’s pretty magic resistant, so we’re going to summon some good old salt water. Sorry in advance if you get wet.”

Seconds later the dragon roared and hissed as it was hit with jet after jet of salt water. Slowly, though, it began to dissolve. 

Hermione sat there, clutching Tetsurou and shivering as the ice water drenched her clothes. After a few minutes, the ice began to lower to the point that she could see the tops of heads around her, then faces. 

“Hey, hey, hey!” Bokuto bounded toward them but slipped on the water and collided into the ice. 

Hermione laughed, “Are you alright, Bokuto-san?” She winced at the raw feeling in her throat.

A thumbs up appeared above the wall of ice, followed by Bokuto’s head. “I’m good! Though, Granger-san, you’ve saved my bro’s life twice now. There’s no need for honorifics, just call me Bokuto.”

Akaashi came up behind his soulmate, hauling him back onto his feet. “Same here, Granger-san. Feel free to call me Akaashi.”

Hermione blinked, not having expected that. “Bokuto, Akaashi…” She swallowed. It had been her fault in the first place, but she’d always be there help Tetsurou, regardless of that. Always. “You are both good friends to him. Feel free to call me Granger.” She personally wouldn’t mind if they called her Hermione, but Tetsurou would probably object to that, and she understood that their culture was different.

“Akaashi, Granger said I was a good friend!” Bokuto jumped up, laughing, and Akaashi rolled his eyes. “The ice is low enough to get Kuroo out, levitate him already if you’re such a good friend.”

“Yeah!” Bokuto jumped again, then raised his wand. “Kuroo would normally kill me for doing this. Can I rub it in his face, later?” Hermione shifted away from Tetsurou as Bokuto cast levicorpus, lifting him into the air. 

He looked so… pale. There was dried blood all over his arm and chest, and traces of it on his face and legs. Her stomach churned. 

He had been tortured for her. 

She had drug the war here, and he had been tortured because of it. 

Hermione pulled her legs close to her chest, hugging them as Tetsurou disappeared over the ridge of ice. She could hear Charlie casting diagnostic spells on him. 

She swallowed tightly. How could Bokuto and Akaashi still be friendly with her? How could she face Kenma-san or Tetsurou’s parents? It had been bad enough last night…

How could she face the Tsukishimas? They had welcomed her, and their son had been tortured because of it.

“It’s alright you know.”

Hermione looked up to see Luna watching her from off to the side. “It’s terrible, but the funny thing about terrible things is that they make everything else that much more wonderful.” Luna smiled at her, then held out her hand. “You should never hide, Hermione.”

Hermione closed her eyes. Luna was right. She was a Gryffindor. She would face this.

She took Luna’s hand.

Every nerve protested the movement, but with her friend’s help, she stood up. She panted slightly from the exertion. The ice was at her knees now. She focused on stepping over it, but almost fell over in the process. Luna steadied her. 

“Hermione!”

She looked up to see Akiteru running toward her. He gave her a gentle hug. “Yokatta. We were so worried.” Tears formed in her eyes. 

“Akiteru-san, I—” she stumbled over her words, “It’s all my fault. Honto ni gomen ne.” 

“You saved him, Hermione.” He stepped back, looking at her earnestly. “You saved him. The woman they called in said he would make a full recovery. You have nothing to be sorry for, alright?”

A full recovery. She was glad. She nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. The mental recovery, though… it wouldn’t be easy.

“Tsukishima-san, Hermione won’t be able to stand much longer.” Luna was smiling at her serenely, and Hermione realized that her legs really did feel weak and were shaking slightly from the cruciatus effects. “Perhaps you could carry her outside?”

“Of course!” Akiteru looked alarmed and quickly bent down to put one arm behind her back and another behind her knees. As much as Hermione wanted to stand on her own, she knew that probably wasn’t wise at the moment. She could trust Akiteru. She forced herself to lean back into her cousin’s arms, letting him pick her up. He brought her outside, but all Hermione could see was people with uniforms milling around, she assumed from the Japanese ministry.

“Where’s Kei-kun?”

“That woman, Pomfrey-san?” Hermione nodded. “She insisted that every patient needed a quiet environment to heal, so she went with him back to the house. Mom and Dad are with him, and Krum-san stayed just in case something happened. Pomfrey-san said we should bring you and Kuroo-san when we could.”

Charlie came out a second later, Tetsurou floating behind him. He smiled at her, clearly exhausted. “We have a portkey ready to take you two back to the Tsukishima residence as soon as possible. Luna, Akiteru, Bokuto-san, and I will be coming with you, the others will stay and handle this scene as well as try to track down where Bellatrix put Malfoy.”

Akiteru smiled down at her, “You ready to go home, Hermione-san?”

Home.

She hadn’t had a home in a while, now. It was nice.

Hermione nodded, “Let’s go home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bellatrix is gone! I really felt like Neville should be the one to finally kill her. 
> 
> I hope you're enjoying the fic! Just two shorter chapters left that will wrap things up.


	22. August 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! I woke up early and was able to edit, so you're getting the chapter a day earlier than I planned. :) I'll put the last one up tomorrow evening, most likely.
> 
> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

Hermione could hear voices around her, softly talking to one another. She struggled to focus on them. Akiteru and… Kei? She opened her eyes. She was in the Tsukishima’s living room again, lying down on a bed someone had transfigured from the armchair. Kei was sitting on a recliner across from her, his leg in a brace of some sort. Akiteru was standing next to him, but both brothers turned to her in surprise a second after she opened her eyes.

“You’re awake!”

“Glad you finally decided to wake up, Hermione-neesan.”

“How long have I been asleep?” She remembered coming back to the Tsukishimas, then Madam Pomfrey fussing over her and shoving a sleeping draught down her throat before she could even see Kei. 

“Almost three days.” Akiteru laughed at Hermione’s aghast expression. “I should go get Pomfrey-san. She’s out in the tent but asked that we let her know when either of you woke up.”

“Arigatou, Akiteru-kun.” He nodded at her and patted his brother on the shoulder before walking out of the room.

Seconds later, Tetsurou started to stir. Kei sighed. “You’re even waking up at the same time now?”

“Well, that does happen with nightmares, but I assume this time it’s because we’re healing at the same rate…”

Tetsurou’s eyes opened.

“I never thought I’d be so glad to see the ceiling of someone else’s house.”

Kei looked disgruntled, “Please don’t get too attached.” 

“I don’t know, it’s a nice ceiling.” Tetsurou gave him a tired smirk.

Hermione rolled her eyes, though she was glad that Tetsurou was feeling well enough to exchange banter with her cousin. “How is your leg, Kei-kun?” 

“Mostly better.” He sighed. “Apparently because I don’t have a magical core or whatever, your potions only halfway work for me.” Hermione blinked. That was interesting. She wondered why. Something to do with magic, surely…

Tetsurou yawned, “Yeah, everyone has bones and muscles, so the potions will work; however, they’re made to interact with magic as it naturally accelerates the healing process, and you don’t have that, so,” Tetsurou yawned again, “they halfway work.” 

Kei’s eyebrow was twitching, “I didn’t ask for a science lesson.”

“Well aren’t you a bit self-centered. It wasn’t for you. Hermione was curious.” 

Kei looked to her for confirmation, then sighed when she nodded. “How am I supposed to know you’re responding to her when she hasn’t said anything?”

“You have your silent cousin thing; Hermione and I have the silent soulmate thing. I would say it’s even.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and intervened. “You said it was mostly better. How is it doing now?”

He sighed. “It’s still tender, but like I just sprained it.” He shook his head in disbelief, “The bones in my leg were broken and splintered in several places, so the quickest way to heal them was apparently just to vanish and regrow them.” He poked his leg. “It’s really weird not having any bones there, you know? And regrowing them took over 24 hours and definitely wasn’t pleasant, but it definitely beats the alternative.” 

The alternative. 

His leg never healing. Or worse.

No. She couldn't think about that. She got there in time. “I’m glad it’s getting better, Kei-kun.”

There was silence as the three of them looked at each other. They had been tortured for her. Hermione swallowed, “I’m sorry I didn’t get there sooner.”

Kei shook his head, “It’s not your fault, nee-san, please don’t think that. You were being tortured just as much as Kuroo-senpai, yet you still came to save us, and I always knew that you would. It’s just… I honestly thought that there was no way my leg would ever be better. That I’d never be able to play volleyball again.”

“Yeah.” Tetsurou sighed, “I know what you mean.” 

Before Hermione could respond, Madam Pomfrey came bustling into the room, followed by two others.

“Hermione!!” 

“Harry! Ron!” Hermione beamed at her friends. She felt Tetsurou’s immediate nervousness at their names, but she supposed that was to be expected.

“No! Not yet!” Pomfrey glared at them both. “Treatment first, then visiting. Shoo!” 

Hermione giggled as the Destroyer of Voldemort lurked in the doorway, but refrained from coming in. Pomfrey gave them a stern look, then turned around. Ron stuck out his tongue.

Hermione smiled at her friends as Pomfrey came over next to her and Tetsurou. She had missed them so much. Talking on the mirror just wasn’t the same. 

“How are you two feeling?”

“Exhausted, but fine.” Hermione answered, and Tetsurou nodded his agreement. 

“Good, good. Any tremors yet?”

They both shook their heads.

“Wonderful. You’ll probably have some throughout the day, but it shouldn’t be as common as last time. I’ve been spelling the potion into your systems for the past three days while you’ve been asleep, so your healing process is already well underway.”

“Thank you, Madam Pomfrey.”

“You’re quite welcome, dear, but I don’t expect to be treating you again, you hear me? You stay healthy.” 

Hermione laughed but nodded. “Of course.” Pomfrey turned back to the doorway, “The same goes for you two, as well!” Harry and Ron nodded solemnly. Pomfrey sighed. “I’ll stay here for a few more hours in case your tremors don’t behave as expected, but everything should be fine, now. Just take the potion every six hours until you’ve gone 48 hours without a single tremor. Your next dose is two hours from now.” Hermione wrinkled her nose but nodded nevertheless.

“How long do you think the tremors will last, Madam Pomfrey?” Hermione knew Tetsurou was eager to recover quickly.

“As long as you rest and don’t overexert yourselves, most likely just a few more days.” Tetsurou groaned and Hermione could feel his frustration, but also his relief that it wasn’t longer.

“As for you,” Pomfrey turned to Kei, “Stay off that leg for another 18 hours, alright? Then don’t do anything strenuous for another two days. None of that game you play until Monday at the earliest.” Kei sighed, but nodded. Pomfrey looked between the three of them but was apparently satisfied that they would behave because she left the room.

The second Pomfrey left, Harry and Ron ran to Hermione, one on each side. Both threw their arms around her, and she laughed. “It’s good to see you two, as well.”

“Merlin, Hermione. Don’t ever do that again.” Ron’s arm tightened around her. “You’re supposed to be the smart one.”

“We were scared we’d lost you, Hermione.” Harry pulled back to look at her, as if he needed to assure himself that she was still there. She swallowed, remembering Harry’s body in Hagrid’s hands. She knew how that felt.

“I’m sorry. I’m doing better, now, though.” 

As if to contradict her, a tremor ran through her body.

“Please, Hermione. We’re experts at that kind of ‘better.’” Ron rolled his eyes.

“There is that.” Hermione smiled at them both. “Thank you for coming.” 

“We’re just sorry we couldn’t come earlier.”

Hermione sighed. “I wish you could have, but it was safer to keep her list of targets as short as possible.”

Harry nodded, “Doesn’t mean we didn’t want to be here.” He ran a hand through his hair, then his eyes darted to where Tetsurou was watching them warily.

Harry walked around Hermione’s bed to approach her soulmate. “Good to see you awake, as well. We’ve met over the mirror, but I figure I should introduce myself, since this is our first time meeting each other in person.” He held out his hand, “I’m one of Hermione’s best friends, Harry James Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, Youngest Seeker in a Century, Tri-Wizard Champion, Heir to the houses of Potter and Black, recipient of the Order of Merlin first class, and the Destroyer of Voldemort.” 

“Harry Potter!” Hermione glared at her friend.

_It’s weird meeting these two after seeing them in so many memories. I feel like I already know them._

Hermione blinked. She hadn’t thought of that. She supposed it would be odd for him. Tetsurou just shook Harry’s hand, though, smirk in place despite the nervousness Hermione could feel. “That’s a lot of titles. Do you have to practice that spiel?” 

Ron spoke up, “Obviously he needs more practice. You forgot Britain’s Most Wanted, mate.”

Harry grinned at Ron, “True, but that title was rescinded after the war.”

“Tell that to the goblins.” 

Harry laughed. It was good to hear his laughter again.

Hermione pushed herself up into a sitting position, thankful that the change in posture wasn’t too painful. She looked between the two of them, “What have the goblins done?”

“Eh.” Ron scratched his head, “Officially we’re forgiven for breaking into a vault and stealing from it because it was during the war and all that, but they won’t let us in the bank without an escort of three goblins at all times.”

Hermione groaned. “Lovely.”

Ron held out his hand to Tetsurou, “Ronald Weasley, mate. I’ve only got the Order of Merlin, but I’m also far more likely to retaliate against you than Harry is. Impulse control problems and all that.”

_And the fact that you’re still in love with her._

Hermione swallowed hard as Tetsurou nodded at her friend in fake empathy, “Completely understandable.”

She decided to ignore Tetsurou’s thought for now. “You _both_ have impulse control problems, you idiot boys.” 

Harry just grinned at her, “You know you love us.”

“Of course.” She rolled her eyes. She loved them both like brothers, now. Hermione needed to distract herself. “Have you already introduced yourselves to Kei-kun, then?”

“Yes, though my version was significantly shorter.”

Harry raised an eyebrow, “Would you like the long version?”

“I’ll pass.”

“Kuro!” Kenma came running in, staring at his friend as if he was his lifeline. Hermione noticed her friends tense at the intrusion, wands flicking into their hands, but stopping when they noticed who the intruder was. Kenma looked like he hadn’t slept in days. There were bags under his eyes and his hair was greasy and sticking up in different directions.

“Hey there, Kenma-cat.” Tetsurou sat up to see his friend better. 

“You’re ok.” The words were soft, as if Kenma didn’t quite believe them. He made his way across the room to the chair by Tetsurou’s bed. “That woman wouldn’t let us stay in here and took down their monitoring spells. Said she didn’t want us crowding or overwhelming you when you woke up. I wouldn’t have done anything, though. I just wanted to be here.” He pulled his legs up to his chest and set his chin on them, watching Tetsurou.

“Sorry, mate. That’s definitely our fault. We didn’t exactly respect Pomfrey’s sickbed rules when we were little.” Ron was rubbing the back of his head and offered Kenma a sheepish grin.

Kenma’s eyes evaluated Ron, then dismissed him to return to watching Tetsurou. They widened when another tremor shook Tetsurou’s arm. “How long will those last?”

“The mediwitch said a few more days, most likely.” Tetsurou sighed, then leaned back against his pillow.

“Coach isn’t going to like that.”

“No, but—”

“Hey, hey, hey!” Bokuto bounded into the room only to freeze at the sight of Harry and Ron’s wands pointed straight at him and Akaashi. “Woah!”

“Harry, Ron, it’s fine. They’re friends.” The wands lowered. Bokuto seemed frozen in shock after hearing their names. “Gomen, Akaashi, Bokuto.” 

Tetsurou laughed, “Man, they’re just as jumpy as you.” 

“Ano…” Akaashi walked out from behind his soulmate, “Would you be Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, then?” Her friends nodded, still not bothering to sheath their wands, despite the fact that they had lowered them. “I’m Keiji Akaashi and this is my soulmate, Kotaru Bokuto. It’s nice to meet you.”

Harry slowly returned Akaashi’s nod. “Likewise.”

At that Bokuto seemed to recover from his shock. He gave Harry a broad grin and held out his hand, “Man! Tsukki, your cousin’s awesome AND she has awesome friends.” Bokuto started shaking Harry’s hand up and down.

“Bro, calm down.” Tetsurou was laughing at his friend. 

Kei’s response was more scathing, “You already knew they were friends.”

“But they’re here, now!” Bokuto waved his arms at the two of them, as if that would explain his exuberance. Ron and Harry just stared at him, bemused.

“You…know of me?” Ron seemed to be in shock.

“Of course! All the newspapers mentioned your names as the two people who were side by side with Harry Potter the whole time.”

“Huh.” Ron sat down, slightly shocked. Hermione smiled at him. He was always so used to being in everyone else’s shadow, hopefully it would help his confidence a bit to realize that his own name was known internationally. 

“But…I didn’t—”

“You were there when it mattered, Ron. That’s what counts.” It had hurt when he’d left, but that was behind them, now. 

“Eh?” Bokuto was looking between the three of them, confused.

Hermione sighed, “It’s nothing important, Bokuto.” 

“Neesan.” Kei’s voice was quieter than usual, so she immediately turned to look at him. He was touching his neck where a scar from Bellatrix’s knife was clearly visible, a long thin line surrounded by angry welts. “Pomfrey-san said it was cursed and she couldn’t do anything, but that it could be hidden, like yours. But I can’t have you apply the spell everyday…” He looked at her with pleading eyes, “Is there a way to hide it permanently? If not, I’ll…come up with an excuse, I guess, it’s just…” his voice trailed off. 

Hermione’s heart ached. She understood. The visible reminder was painful, and no one wanted to be asked why they had a scar that looked like someone had tried to slit their throat. 

She swallowed hard, thinking. If she could anchor the spell to something…but what? Kei wasn’t the type to wear a necklace, but… maybe…

“Kenma-san, do you know where Tetsurou keeps the karasu-tengu feathers?” Kenma looked up from his perusal of his best friend to nod. “Akaashi, would you take him to Tetsurou’s house and bring me back two of those?” 

Kenma uncurled himself and followed Akaashi, but Tetsurou snorted. “Just going to help yourself to my ingredients, hmm? I see how it is.”

“It’s for a good cause.” Hermione rolled her eyes, “And no complaining since Charlie is willing to give you free dragon parts because of me.”

Bokuto laughed at them, and Hermione turned to Kei. “Can you give me your portkey?” He nodded and slid it off his arm, tossing it to her. 

Hermione didn’t even try to catch it, rolling her eyes as Harry snatched it out of the air, then passed it to her. “Must you catch every small, flying object?”

Harry shrugged, “You weren’t going to.” 

No, because she knew Harry’s habits. 

She sighed and turned her attention to the portkey, disengaging the portus spell and thinning out the leather so that it became more of a necklace. She anchored the glamour spell in the leather, looking up as Kenma and Akaashi came back, the former holding two black feathers—one long and thin, the other short and fluffy. Hermione tied them to the chord, then used a spell to make sure they were permanently attatched. 

She tossed the finished product back to Kei. “Put that on. I need to see if it works.” He nodded and did as she said. Hermione smiled in satisfaction. There was no longer a visible scar. 

_I love that my witch is so brilliant._

Hermione blushed at Tetsurou's thought. 

Bokuto whistled, “Dang, Granger. You’re ridiculously good with glamours.” He conjured a mirror, passing it to Tsukki. 

Kei let out a relieved sigh and smiled, “Arigatou, nee-san.”

“You’re welcome, Kei-kun.” Hermione sighed, “I just wish I could do more.”

Tetsurou spoke up, “Could you do the same with my necklace, Hermione? I’m slowly getting better at disguising the others, but the neck’s a bit harder since I can’t see it.”

“Of course, Tetsurou.” He slipped it off his neck and tossed it to Harry, smirking at her as he did so.

“I would toss it to you, but since it’s obvious who will catch it I figured I might as well aim there from the start.”

“How logical of you.” Hermione rolled her eyes and accepted the necklace from Harry, quickly anchoring the glamour spell to the necklace. She fingered the dragon fang for a moment, then gave the necklace to Harry to return to Tetsurou. “Did anyone ever find Draco Malfoy?” She felt somewhat horrible for not thinking of him until that moment. She may hate him, but he had been trying to help her, even if for selfish reasons.

“Bill did.” Harry sighed next to her. “Apparently he’d left some hair behind in the tent and they used that to track him. Not entirely legal, mind you, but with Bellatrix dead they had no clue how else to find him.”

“Is he ok?” Bellatrix had not sounded happy with him.

“Charlie and Bill escorted him to Mungoes, and he will be fine. He was showing some aftereffects of the cruciatus, and Bellatrix had broken his wand hand in a few places, but he wasn’t nearly as bad off as you or Tetsurou.”

“That’s…good.” 

Ron sighed, “They stayed home to help McGonagall with Hogwarts and relieve us so that we could come see you.”

Hermione smiled at that. “I’ll have to thank them, though I know Tetsurou’s father did want to talk to him about dragons. Apparently, he knows one on the Romanian preserve.”

“Really?” Ron looked interested, but then shrugged. “If Kuroo-san wants dragonhide or anything, Charlie can just make a personal visit sometime instead of owling the items.”

Hermione sighed and leaned back, feeling the exhaustion catch up with her. Harry noticed and frowned at her. “Do you need to sleep?”

“I can stay up a bit longer.” Hermione shook her head stubbornly. “Where are Neville, Viktor, and Luna?”

“Viktor’s coach owled him, and since you aren’t in danger he decided to return to his team. He said he’d love to see you both again sometime when you’re better. Neville and Luna are off working on dismantling his plants from the house in Australia.” Harry shook his head, “Apparently his trap was a bit too thorough and doesn’t want to leave.”

Hermione laughed softly but froze when Tetsurou’s mother entered the room. Her hand clenched around Harry’s wrist to keep him from pulling his wand again at the sudden intrusion. Ron tensed beside her, but thankfully refrained from drawing. Tetsurou’s mother watched the three of them cautiously. 

_Arigatou, love. I don't exactly want war heroes drawing their wands on my mother._

“Okaa-san.” She turned to her son, smiling softly as she conjured a chair to sit down beside Kenma. 

“My Tetsurou. I came as soon as I heard that you’d woken up.” She froze, staring at his arms. 

_oops._ He watched his mother's reaction to the scars carefully. 

Hermione winced. The words stood out starkly against his skin, angry welts surrounding them from when the knife exploded. 

His mother swallowed, tears forming in her eyes. Her hand reached out to touch the word blood traitor, then stopped halfway. “Gomen, musuko. I’m sorry you suffered, but so glad that you are alright.” She wrapped her arms around him.

“Okaa-san, I’m alright. I am.” His mother released him from her hug and looked over him carefully. She turned to Hermione, “Thank you for keeping your promise. The woman is dead?”

“Hai. My friend killed her.” Tetsurou’s mother nodded absently, then frowned as a small tremor shook Tetsurou’s leg and Hermione’s. 

“Are those permanent?”

“No.” Tetsurou rached for his mother’s hand and squeezed it. “Just a few more days, okaa-san. Then I will be playing volleyball again.”

“Yokatta.” His mother breathed a sigh of relief, then sat there for a few minutes, studying her son and occasionally glancing at Hermione. The others sat there awkwardly. Finally, she stood up again. “I will leave you here to recover, I suppose. It seems you have good company, at least.” She nodded at her son’s friends then paused as she looked at Hermione. “You are a formidable witch. I am worried for my son, but I always knew his true match would be someone formidable.” She was silent for a moment, as if debating whether or not to continue. Finally, she spoke, “I dislike the danger that you have brought into his life, but I will try to look past that, for his sake.”

Hermione had barely responded, “Arigatou,” before the woman had swept from the room. Tetsurou’s mother was willing to give her a chance. Relief flooded through her.

As if he’d been holding it in, Tetsurou yawned loudly. She could feel his own exhaustion mirroring hers.

Kenma’s sharp eyes watched them both. “Go to sleep.” Not at all intimidated by Harry and Ron, he turned to them and glared at them, as well as at Akaashi and Bokuto. “Leave. They need sleep.”

 _So protective..._ Even Tetsurou's thoughts sounded tired. 

Bokuto burst out laughing. “Kenma, you’re supposed to be a cat, not a guard dog.”

Kenma still glared at them. “Pomfrey-san said they needed sleep.”

“It’s fine, Kenma-san, we’re going.” Akaashi grabbed his soulmate’s collar and began to haul him from the room. He paused, though, to nod at Hermione and Tetsurou. “We are glad you are awake and feeling better. We’ll try to visit again sometime over the next few days, after you’ve had more sleep.” With that said, he pulled the protesting Bokuto around the corner. 

Kenma’s glare focused on Harry and Ron, who fidgeted. They had never been particularly good at following Pomfrey’s orders.

“Kenma, they can stay. They’ll let me sleep. Right, boys?”

Kei snickered as the two nodded eagerly. Harry spoke up, “We haven’t seen our friend since this mess started, Kenma-san. We just want to stay with her.” That finally seemed to make Kenma relax as he nodded slowly and returned to watching Tetsurou, whose eyes were already closed.

He looked…innocent, asleep like that. As if he wasn’t full of mischief and sarcasm. 

As if he hadn’t just been tortured.

Hermione closed her eyes, content to let her paranoia rest easy as Harry and Ron sat on her either side. She let the exhaustion take hold of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more left! Hermione and Kuroo finally get to spend some time together with just the two of them. :)


	23. August 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously, I own none of the rights to either of these series. Those belong to J.K. Rowling and Haruichi Furudate, along with whatever publishers, producers, etc., are involved with both series.

Apparently Tetsurou did own other clothes.

He was standing there smirking at her, wearing ripped blue jeans, a tight black v-neck shirt, a loose red flannel button up, and his dragon fang necklace. She swallowed. “You look nice.”

She’d put on jeans and a nice black and white striped blouse, but she felt inadequate next to him.

“You look great, Mio.”

“Really?” She looked up at him, doubting whether or not he was being honest, so she felt along their bond. He certainly felt…appreciative. She blushed.

He reached forward, grabbing her hand and pulling her off the Tsukishima’s doorstep. “Really.”

It felt wonderful to be outside the Tsukishima’s living room, though Hermione couldn’t help but feel nervous about the date. Tetsurou had practically counted down the hours that they’d been tremor-free, then bounded out to the tent to change immediately for their date. 

Hermione hadn’t even had a moment alone to call Ginny over the mirror and ask her what sort of outfit she should wear on a date. 

“EH?!” The two of them turned to look down the road. 

The entirety of the Karasuno team was staring at them. 

Yamaguchi stepped forward timidly. “Ano…gomen. Practice just ended, and we came to see Tsukki. He’s been gone all week because of his…eto…sprained leg?” Hermione smiled. That was sweet of the team, and she knew Kei would appreciate it, despite the fact that he would claim to hate it. 

Tetsurou smirked mischievously, “Aw, you missed Tsukki that much?”

_I know their mascot is a crow, but they take the whole flocking together thing a bit too seriously._

Hermione bit back a laugh at Tetsurou’s inner commentary, trying to focus on Sugawara’s response.

“We thought he might want some company.” Sugawara smiled, “Why are you here, Kuroo-san? It’s a long way from Tokyo. Did you miss Tsukishima that much?”

Tetsuroo laughed, then held up their linked hands. “I would think my reason is obvious.”

Hermione rolled her eyes as the oblivious Karasuno boys predictably exploded. She turned toward the house, “I’ll go let Kei-kun know you’re here.” And undo the enchantments in the living room. Now that she and Tetsurou could move around, there was no need for the expansion, anyway.

“Hermione-neesan? I thought you just left.” Kei came slowly down the stairs. His brace was off, and he was almost back to full mobility, but steps and jumps still gave him some trouble.

“Your team is outside. They want to visit you.”

“Ugh.” Kei made a face. “Send them away.” 

“No, Kei-kun. It was nice of them to come see you.” She summoned the last of the potions books she had been reading with Tetsurou and dumped them in her purse. “Do you see anything else out of place?”

“If I say yes, but don’t tell you what it is, will you keep them outside?”

“No.” 

_Please. Like she doesn’t want to be with me. We’re soulmates._

Hermione shook her head, trying to ignore Tetsurou’s internal reactions to whatever the Karasuno team was telling him.

Kei sighed. He pointed at the dittany plant Neville had given them before he left. It looked harmless enough now, but the vapors it occasionally emitted were hardly inconspicuous. Hermione quickly picked it up and moved it upstairs to her room.

Kei was still frowning at the door in annoyance when she came back downstairs. “Arigatou, Kei-kun. I’ll let them in, now.” Despite his put-upon sigh, he followed her to the door.

Before Hermione even opened the front door, however, she could hear Tanaka and Nishinoya yelling about something and Tetsurou laughing his head off. Upon opening the door, the noise became amplified, and she could see that Hinata was bouncing up and down about something. 

Yamaguchi looked toward the door as if their appearance was a god-send. “Tsukki!” 

The noise stopped.

“You’ve seen that I’m better. I’ll be at practice Monday. You can leave, now.”

“You’ll be back Monday?” Yamaguchi looked thrilled at this, as did the rest of the team. Had Kei not told them how long he would be gone? 

Hermione sighed. “He will be, but he may still have to take it easy. It still hurts him to jump.”

Sawamura nodded, “We’ll watch him.” Well, at least she could trust the third year, even if she couldn’t trust Kei. 

She turned to her cousin, “Kei-kun, they came all this way to see you. Be a good host.”

He glared at her. “That’s easy for you to say. You’re leaving.” 

She shrugged, then walked toward Tetsurou, once again slipping her hand into his. “I’m sure you can manage to be polite without me there to watch you.” She smiled at him, “Or are you not old enough to be a good host?” 

He glared at her, but held the door open stiffly. His lack of politeness didn’t seem to bother his team, though, as they cheerfully walked past him. 

Yachi went in last, telling Hermione to enjoy her date while all the time glancing at Tetsurou as if he was the scariest person ever. She then darted past Tsukishima. 

“You’re a terrible cousin.” Kei gave her one last glare, then shut the door.

_Silly Tsukki. It’s obvious that the more he insults you, the more he likes you._

Hermione rolled her eyes.

“Did you have fun riling up the team? You know Kei-kun is going to complain about that when we get back.”

“Eh. They’d be complaining about us dating whether or not I did anything about it.”

Hermione sighed. That much was true, at least. Enough about Karasuno, though. She turned to Tetsurou, “So where are we going?”

“I’ve heard about a place. Thought you might like it.” His mischievous smile was back.

“That’s very specific, Tetsurou.” Of course she wouldn’t pick up on his stray thoughts when she wanted to. Had he figured out how to block them? 

“I thought so.” He pulled her into a corner between two houses where no one could see them, then wrapped his arm around her waist. “Ready?”

She nodded, though she still ended up closing her eyes and trying to fight nausea at the feeling of side-apparition. Her mind flashed back to the several trips she’d taken with Akaashi as they hunted for Tetsurou. Her body flooded with nausea and she tried to fight off the memories, the feeling of apparating while recovering from cruciatus...

She felt the brief spurt of pain she’d come to associate with sharing memories and looked up to see Tetsurou grimacing. 

_Well at least I know now why I was so nauseous at the time._

Hermione winced, “Gomen. I usually don’t react like that.”

“Good to know.” He sighed, “Feeling like you’re about to throw up in an alley after being accosted by your cousin’s teammates is hardly the best start for a date, but we’ll make do.” He swept both of his hands out in front of him, “After you.”

Hermione tentatively walked out of the alley. He’d brought them to Tokyo, or at least to what she assumed was Tokyo given the hustle and bustle of city life around her. At first glance, it looked entirely Muggle, but upon second glance… she saw a goblin at the corner, glaring at her, no doubt because of the Gringotts break-in. And faeries were fluttering around the lit lamp-posts. From what she could read, the storefronts all had magic related names, as well.

She felt Tetsurou’s arm rest around her waist. “Welcome to Tokyo’s magical district, Kotodama no Machi.”

Hermione knew she could spend days here and still uncover more. Every nook and crany was filled with some object or person. “We’ll be coming back, right?”

Tetsurou laughed beside her, “As many times as you want, love. Glad you like it.” He began to guide her down the street. “First, though, we should probably get some dinner. Don’t worry, the stores will stay open for a while. Do me a favor and don’t tell anyone your full name, alright? People here won’t recognize your face, but your name is a whole different thing.”

Hermione nodded, glad for the relative anonymity. It was certainly more than she could manage in Britain at the moment. 

She looked around her in awe as they walked. There was one store that looked like a Japanese version of Magical Managerie, and their clothes stores seemed to be filled with enchanted muggle clothing, not robes. She looked longingly at what seemed to be a bookstore, and Tetsurou laughed at her. “We’ll come back, I promise.” 

_Especially if it makes you smile like that._

She blushed and allowed herself to be escorted to what was obviously a restaurant of some kind, though Hermione couldn’t read the kanji sign. Tetsurou pulled her inside, asking the waitress at the front for a table for two. Or at least, Hermione assumed that was what he said since she’d heard the number two. 

When they sat down at the table, Hermione stared blankly at the pot in front of them. “Tetsurou…what kind of restaurant is this?”

He laughed at her confusion, “Shabu shabu. I figured you hadn’t been to one of these, which is just a shame. We cook our food in the pot.”

“Like fondue?” 

_Close enough._ He shrugged, “Sure. Do you have any preferences for meat or vegetables or anything?”

Hermione shook her head. “I’m new to this, so I’ll trust your judgment, however dangerous that might be.”

Tetsurou grinned at her, then called over a waitress and said something in rapid Japanese. Once the waitress had left, he turned back to her. “It’s really not that big a deal, Mio. It’ll be fun.”

When the waitress came back, she poured something into the pot, and Hermione stared skeptically at the mixture. “What did she put in it?”

“Seasonings. Miso and some other things.” Tetsurou smirked at her skeptical expression. “It’ll taste good, I promise.”

A tray of vegetables, udon noodles, and thin slices of meat was set in front of them, and Tetsuru picked up a pair of cooking chopsticks. “First we want to dump in the bigger vegetables because they’ll take longer to cook.” He picked up the carrots, broccoli, squash, cabbage, and mushrooms, slipping each into the broth. “Then you pick up a slice of meat, swirl it around to cook it,” he swished his meat around in the stock and it quickly turned brown. “Then just pick one of the sauces and eat it.” He dropped the meat on top of his bowl of rice and switched to his own chopsticks before dipping the meat into some sauce and eating it. “Go on, Mio. It’ll be fine.”

“Right.” She stared at the vegetables for a second, then tried to pick up a piece of meat. It tore in two. Tetsurou snickered. 

“They’re cut really thin, so they do that sometimes. Just try with the smaller piece.” Hermione did so and was surprised how easy it was. After just a few passes she transferred the meat to her bowl of rice, then switched to her own chopsticks. She decided to try the middle sauce, which tasted slightly like peanuts. 

_She looks like she’s concentrating on some potion._

Tetsurou grinned at her, resting his head on his hand. “Think you can manage it, now?”

“Yes.” Hermione rolled her eyes at her soulmate.

He picked up a piece of meat, swishing it in the broth. “I was wondering if you could answer some of my questions? About the future.” Tetsurou felt nervous about something. What did he want to ask her?

Hermione nodded. “Ask whatever you want, Tetsu.” She used the chopsticks to pick up a piece of cabbage, but nearly burned her tongue, it was so hot.

 _Atsui!_

Tetsurou laughed at her, reaching for his water just as she reached for her own. “Give the vegetables time to cool down before you eat them.”

“Now you tell me.” 

“For the record, you burned my tongue, too.”

“Serves you right.” Hermione smiled teasingly at him, “Next time remember to include those details at the beginning.”

He swallowed a piece of meat. “Thanks for the sympathy.” Tetsurou picked up a carrot, pondering something as he watched it cool. She could feel his nervousness more strongly, now. He sighed, then spoke up, “What are you doing in the fall? Your time in the tent happened when you were supposed to be at Hogwarts, right? Will you need to go back? Will you be staying here?” 

Hermione nearly choked on her mushroom. “Starting with the easy ones, huh Tetsurou?”

“It’s important.” He shrugged. His face didn't show any emotions, but she could feel his nervousness and... fear? apprehension? _Please. Please say you’ll stay. I can’t ask that of you, but there’s nothing for me in your home country. Please stay._

Hermione swallowed at Tetsurou’s thoughts. “Originally, I had planned to go back in the fall…” she saw Teturou deflate, and she frowned. “I said originally. I’m honestly leaning toward asking Minerva if I can do a self-study of sorts, now. I’ll still need to take my NEWTs, you know.”

“Could you do that from Japan?” He watched her warily as he switched a piece of meat back and forth.

“Probably.” Hermione shrugged. “I doubt it would be good for our bond for us to be on different continents, much less over a long period of time, and Minerva and Kingsley are always asking me if they can do anything for me.”

“Right.” Tetsurou shook his head, “I keep forgetting about your ridiculously good connections.” He rubbed the back of his neck and Hermione felt nervous hope through their bond. “So you’re staying?”

“Yes, Tetsu. I don’t quite have the logistics nailed down, but I’m going to stay.”

Happiness filled the bond, and Hermione smiled at him. “Were you that worried?”

 _I could kiss you right now._ “Not worried, per se… I just know you’re a bit homesick, that’s all.” 

Hermione blushed, trying to ignore his thoughts. “Speaking of that…” there was one thing she really did want to pick up from England. “Since I’m staying here longer, can you keep my cat?”

Tetsurou started laughing.

“It’s just, Kei hates cats, but I feel bad for leaving him with the Weasleys back home, because Ron hates cats, too, but you seem to like them…” her voice trailed off as Tetsurou looked up at her, smirking.

“If keeping your cat is the price I have to pay for you to stay in Japan, I’ll keep your cat as long as you want, Mio.” 

Hermione grinned at him. “Great. I’ll ask Harry to pick him up and bring him here.” 

“Sounds good.” He picked up several udon noddles and dumbed them into the stock. “Ready for a challenge?”

Hermione groaned. She was terrible at picking up noodles with chopsticks. “Can I pass?”

“Are you telling me the woman who fought and won a war can’t conquer a piece of udon?”

“Shut up.” Hermione glared at his smirk. 

_Such an indignant war heroine._

He picked up a piece of cabbage and ate it with some rice. “You’ll have a short reprieve while it cooks, either way.” Hermione felt his nervousness return. “I do have a follow up question to our earlier conversation, though. What do you plan on doing after school?”

She sighed. “I don’t know, honestly. I’ve always been so focused on surviving the war…” Hermione shrugged, “after the war never really entered any of our minds, much.”

“I get that, it’s just…” Tetsurou bit into his squash and chewed slowly before swallowing. “I really do want to coach volleyball, you know? Or go pro for a bit if I’m good enough. But I still want to be involved with the magical world, and there’s no way I could do both of those in England. But it’s your home country, and it’s so obvious that you want to help rebuild it…” His voice trailed off. 

Hermione sighed. “I don’t know what the answer is, Tetsu. The last thing I want is to prevent you from accomplishing your dream, but…” Hermione frowned as the meat tore. “England is my home. I miss it already.”

_I know._

Silence depended upon them as they thought about the problem, then Tetsurou sighed and fished out a noodle, dropping it expertly onto his rice. 

“My mom suggested something.” He switched chopsticks and dipped the noodle in sauce. 

Hermione blinked, completely taken by surprise. “She did?”

Tetsurou nodded as he swallowed. “The British ambassador to Japan was fired. He was the one that let in all the death eaters in the spring. She thinks one of the reasons the UK’s relations with magical Japan are so strained is because the position keeps being given to purebloods who don’t know how to react to our culture.” Hermione nodded slowly, that did make sense, but she was still a bit confused about where this was going. Surely Tetsurou didn’t mean to suggest—

“Okaasan thinks you should do it. Be the magical ambassador. It would let you stay here, study our culture and our laws, and then try to use that information to help you support and rebuild the British government.” 

Hermione blinked. There would certainly be advantages, and she had loosely wanted to work in the ministry, but more along the lines of developing laws to benefit magical creatures and beings, not international affairs…But this would let her live here with Tetsurou and still work for the UK. She would keep ties with both countries. “I’ll have to think about it.” She knew if she asked, Kingsley would give her the post. Maybe she could try it out as an interim position first? She sighed, “I’ll still have to get my NEWTs first, anyway.”

“Of course.” Tetsurou’s head was resting on his hand again as he watched her think.

“It was nice of your mom to think of me, though.”

“I’m pretty sure she just sees the problem on the horizon and wants to fix it before it even happens.” 

Hermione laughed, that did sound like his mother, from what she knew of the woman. “I can tell where you get your protective streak from.”

“Oi! Tsukki’s the protective one, not me.”

“Tetsurou, if someone dared to say anything negative about Kenma-san you’d pound them into the dirt.”

“That’s different.” Tetsurou leaned back, crossing his arms. “It’s Kenma.”

“Right.” Hermione giggled at him. “Don’t worry, it’s cute.”

“I am not cute!” Hermione started laughing at his absolute horror. 

_She’s the cute one! I’m…cool, wild, something like that. Not cute!_

“You’re cool, too, Tetsu. Don’t worry.”

“Well that’s better.” He was stirring the meat with sharper strokes as he sulked, making Hermione continue laughing. 

She couldn’t help but add, “You’re cute when you’re sulking, too.”

“Oi!” Tetsurou held his hand over his heart, “You’re wounding my pride, woman.”

“I can’t see how that’s a problem, really.”

“Ugh. And I was about to be a gentleman and let you have the last piece of meat.”

Hermione rolled her eyes. “You can have it. I remember you prefer food that’s been stolen, anyway.”

“But if you’re telling me I can have it, that takes all the fun out of it.”

“Does it? I wouldn’t’ve guessed that.” Hermione smiled innocently at him and he groaned.

“Whatever. I still get the meat.” He picked it up and quickly at it, finishing off his rice soon afterward.

 _She hasn’t taken a bite in a while…_ “You ready to go?”

Hermione nodded, so he waved a waitress over and said something to her in Japanese. “Just let me get the check and we can go.” Hermione frowned she didn’t want him to pay for everything… “I know, I know, you can pay for the next meal. Will that work?”

“That sounds good, Tetsu.” He smirked at her, then put some cash onto the tray that the waitress placed on the edge of the table. 

He stood up and stretched, holding out his hand to help Hermione up. “Let’s go explore the wonders of Kotodama no Machi.”

Their first stop was the bookstore, but since most of the books were in Japanese, Hermione resigned herself to only buying a Japanese textbook and its accompanying workbook. Then she ended up having to let Tetsurou pay for it because they only accepted yen, and Hermione had barely any of the Japanese currency on her. 

She insisted on paying him back immediately, though, so their next stop was the Japanese Gringotts. The surly goblins muttered to themselves when Hermione entered. And Tetsurou couldn’t stop snickering at her expense as she tried to apologize to the no-nonsense creatures. In the end, though, they did allow her to make a withdrawal and convert the galleons into yen. Hermione was fascinated to discover that though she could only enter her vault in London, the goblins had systems in place that would allow them to withdraw money from any of their locations worldwide. Any questions she asked about those enchantments, though, just enraged the goblins because they apparently thought she was asking so that she could figure out another way to steal from them.

Needless to say, the second the doors closed behind them, Tetsurou burst out laughing.

“Oh, shut up, Tetsu.” Hermione glared at him. “It’s not that funny.”

“They’re going to hate you three for eternity.”

“They might hate you, too, by association.”

“Nah,” he shook his head, “I’ll just get the normal amount of hatred they reserve for all wizards.” He snickered. 

“Just wait, you’ll see that I’m right.” Hermione fished the appropriate amount of yen from her wallet and held it out to Tetsurou, “Here, thank you for buying the books.” 

He smiled at her, “You don’t have to pay me back, you know. If you weren’t staying in Japan for me, you wouldn’t be so desperate to learn Japanese and get those books.” He did, however, take the money from her.

“Tetsurou, it’s fine. I can use my own money.” She paused, then decided she might as well ask him, “How are you, financially, though? You’ve never mentioned a job…” and she was pretty sure muggle high schoolers either got jobs or just borrowed money from their parents.

_I keep forgetting that she’s on her own. The Tsukishimas would help her if she needed money, I’m sure, but she would hate to ask them._

Tetsurou shrugged, “I have a small allowance, but I also sell potions every now and then, so I’m better off than most people my age. What about you?”

“The Order of Merlin comes with some money from the ministry, so I have that set aside.”

Tetsurou grinned, “Helping save your country had some financial benefits. Good to know.” He stopped in front of a bakery. “Come on, I figured we could get some dessert here.”

“Dessert?” Hermione frowned. “I don’t typically like sweet things…”

Tetsurou’s hand was on her back, guiding her through the door. “But you do like chocolate éclair, which they have.” 

Sure enough, Hermione could see the baked good behind the counter’s glass. “You remembered. Arigatou, Tetsu.”

He grinned at her, “I’m awesome like that.” 

Hermione rolled her eyes, then waited at one of the small tables as he went to order in Japanese and pay for the treat. He quickly returned, holding one out to her. “You know, I’ve never actually had one of these.”

Hermione swallowed her first bite in surprise. “You haven’t?” These were certainly good, though not quite the same as the one’s she had in France. Just as good as the best in London, though. “Do you like it?”

He nodded, swallowing another bite. “It’s kinda like taiyaki.”

“Taiyaki?” She hadn’t tried that, but she’d heard some kids talking about it once in Miyagi.

He waved his had toward the counter. “The fish bread. Sometimes people fill it with chocolate.”

“I’ll have to try it some time.” Though… “Why is it shaped like a fish?”

Tetsurou laughed, “Who knows.” He ate the last bite of his éclair, then stood up. “Do you mind going to the potions shop? There are some ingredients I need to restock.”

Hermione shook her head, finishing off her own éclair and standing to follow him through the crowd. The potions shop was nearby and thankfully much less crowded. The owner seemed to know Tetsurou, as they exchanged a friendly greeting. Hermione drifted away from the two of them to look through the stock, eyeing the more unfamiliar ingredients with interest and smiling with fondness when she saw the karasu-tengu feathers. 

As Tetsurou was paying though, he suddenly became tense and nervous. 

_That’s…unexpected. Shit, how do I explain this._

He was rubbing the back of his neck, clearly unhappy about something. She made her way to his side.

“It’s fine, Mio. They just have glamour-detecting spells in the shop. He was wondering why I was wearing one, since I never have before.” 

Hermione frowned. Some of the shops in Diagon did that if they had expensive items—a way to check to make sure that they really knew who they were selling to, or to make sure fake money wasn’t being disguised and used as payment. She had certainly seen several valuable ingredients on the shelves. “What did you tell him?”

“That something happened, but I was fine now. He wanted to make sure it wasn’t a potions explosion, since those can leave traces in your skin that will mess with sensitive brews if they get too near a cauldron.” He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s hard to be annoyed when he was just trying to look out for me.”

Hermione didn’t like the way the man was looking at her own arms in comprehension, but she supposed it couldn’t be helped. With Bellatrix gone, it wasn’t particularly dangerous for the man to know they were soulmates, and he seemed like Tetsurou’s friend. And he would likely assume it was just a normal bond and they happened to share pain. Her old paranoia was just hard to leave behind. 

_She needs to relax more._

Tetsurou gently took her hand, pulling her from the shop. “Come on, let’s go somewhere fun.”

“What do you mean by fun?” Hermione dearly hoped he wasn’t taking her to a joke shop. 

He smirked at her over his shoulder. “You’ll see.”

They stopped at a store that looked innocent enough, but when they walked in she discovered that every nook and cranny was covered in merchandise. Tetsurou smirked at her overwhelmed expression. “Welcome to Parvus.” He pulled her down a few aisles to where there were a bunch of bookmarks and stationary sets. “Most things here are just 100 yen, but they’re good quality.”

Hermione giggled at the stationary set that had an owl hopping around indignantly at the top. Another showed a kitten playing with a ball of string, and a third had a kappa peeking up out of a puddle. She picked up the owl’s bookmark version, thinking that the owl looked a bit like Hedwig and that Harry might like it. 

Tetsurou’s head rested on her shoulder as his arms wound around her torso. “Do you ever think of yourself first?” 

Hermione blinked, not sure of where the question had come from.

“I could hear your thoughts, just then. The bookmark is for Harry, right?” 

“You could?” Hermione blushed. She had definitely been hearing more and more of Tetsurou’s recently.

“Come on, let’s find something that you want for yourself.” Tetsurou unwound his arms, then began to tug on her wrist.

“But I thought this might be a nice place to pick up thank you presents for everyone that came to help.” 

He turned back to her, rolling his eyes. “Are you perfect or something? Fine, we can do that, too. I’m buying you something for yourself, though.”

“That’s hardly necessary, Tetsurou.”

“I want to give you something nice on our first date, sue me.”

Hermione followed him over to where the jewelry stand was and laughed, “Tetsu, I don’t really wear jewelry.”

“Well yeah, but when I took you to the stationary section all you thought about was other people, despite the fact that you actually use that.” Oh. She hadn’t thought about that. He gave her a pointed look. “So, jewelry.”

Hermione bit her lip, but dutifully looked through the jewelry. In the end, though, the only thing that struck her fancy was a necklace Ginny would like. 

Tetsurou groaned. “Fine. Plushies. Girls like plushies.” Hermione laughed as Tetsurou pulled her along. 

“And since when are you an expert on what girls like?”

Tetsurou ignored her question, continuing to pull her toward another aisle.

Hermione stopped laughing, though, when they arrived and she saw a plushie of a black cat with a ridiculous tuft of hair that you could swipe to the side, making it look somewhat like Tetsurou’s own style. She smiled at it. “That one.”

Tetsurou looked at her incredulously. “You want a stuffed cat.” 

“Yes.” She blushed as she hugged it. “It looks like you.”

_Like me? That’s why she wants it?_

Tetsurou’s eyes widened for a second before his smirk fell into place. “Well, I suppose if we’re taking this slow I’ll have to settle with you sleeping with a plushie that reminds you of me, instead of actually sleeping with me.” Hermione whacked his shoulder.

“Shut up or I won’t get it.”

“I’m buying it for you, love, don’t forget.” He plucked it out of her arms. “I’ll just hold onto this to make sure that it doesn’t vanish.”

She rolled her eyes, “I do like it, so I wouldn’t actually put it back.” She smiled at him, “Arigatou.” 

His eyes softened, “I’m glad you like it, love.”

Hermione smiled at him, then pulled his hand as she went over to the clothes section. There were a bunch of t-shirts piled in a stack haphazardly, and she quickly found several for her friends. Her favorite was the one she picked for Luna that had mushrooms growing all over it. Thank goodness the shirts would automatically resize themselves because she didn’t know everyone’s sizes. 

As she was leaving the section, though, a black hoodie caught her eye. She glanced over to where Tetsurou stood further down the aisle, then pulled the hoodie out. She stared at the design on the front. A silver shield with a dragon curled around it. She swallowed, then quickly pulled it off the hanger and shoved it under the rest of the t-shirts. 

Tetsurou looked up at her suspiciously, no doubt having noticed her emotions flare up, but she just smiled at him. “I’m ready to check out.” She’d finally found something for everyone, at least. She’d have to make Harry take them back with him after he brought her Crookshanks.

He stared at her for a second, then shrugged. “Alright, this way. Did you find something for everyone you wanted to?”

Hermione nodded, trying to figure out how she could check out without Tetsurou noticing the hoodie. She grinned in relief when she saw that there were multiple checkout stations. “Why don’t you go check out in another line while I do mine so that you’re not waiting as long.” 

Tetsurou looked at her askance. “You’re hiding something.”

Hermione scowled at him. She tried to clear her thoughts to keep him from reading her mind. He laughed, “Whatever. I’ll find out eventually.”

Hermione rolled her eyes, since it was a present for him it wasn’t like he was wrong. She quickly made her way to the first cashier, though, and was grateful when he went to a different one and then waited for her by the door. Hermione shuffled her bags so that his present was in its own sack, then cast a featherlight charm on them and went to meet him.

“You ready to go home?”

Home. There it was again. She was still getting used to ‘home’ referring to the Tsukishima’s house. She nodded at Tetsurou, though, and he pulled her close before apparating to the alley they had left earlier. They walked silently back to the Tsukishima’s house, content with each other’s company. 

Tetsurou handed her the bag with the plush kitten. “Arigatou.” She took the bag with a smile, then handed him the one with the hoodie. “I got something for you, as well.”

Tetsurou accepted the bag with a smirk. “I was wondering. All those presents for your friends and not one for your soulmate that took you on the date to begin with.”

“Just open it.”

He smirked at her, but it shifted to a soft smile when he saw the design on the hoodie. “Arigatou.” He put the bag down so that he could pull the hoodie over his head. “I remind you of a shield, hmm?”

Hermione suddenly realized how close he was standing. Her stomach churned. Was he going to…? It was a traditional thing to do at the end of dates…She tried to think about other things. 

“You _are_ a middle blocker.” Tetsurou smirked at her. “And, well… as much as I tried to protect you, in the end you were the one who defended us.”

“I’m talented like that.”

Hermione laughed. “And full of yourself.”

“That too.” One hand rose to rest on her shoulder. “The end of our first date would qualify as a special moment, right, love?”

Hermione swallowed, entranced by the look in his eyes. She nodded. So he did want to kiss her. 

His other hand brushed her hair behind her ear and entwined itself in her hair as he slowly lowered his head, eyes watching her every expression. Hermione swallowed in anticipation, closing her eyes before his lips covered hers. 

Their magic immediately reacted, flaring up around them. Hermione lost herself in the feel of his lips against hers, his magic brushing against her skin. She opened her mouth and let out a soft moan. His tongue brushed against hers, his hands threaded through her hair, his shirt bunched in her hands. He was everywhere, surrounding her, a warm blanket of comfort and protection. 

Hermione surrendered herself to their bond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end! I hope you enjoyed my crazy crossover! I would love to hear back from all y'all. :) There is now a sequel, Blessings from Fire, along with a separate fic, Trial by Fire Extras--a bunch of scenes from outside the plotlines. Both will be updated sporadically. 
> 
> I don't know about y'all, but the manga is killing me right now, as is the wait for season four.


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